Bad eyesight
by Thegoldenlock
Summary: NejiXOC. She's been waiting her entire life for eyes that see her in her darkness. What she didn't know was that, when she made a trip to Konoha, she would find a pair of Byakugan eyes that saw beyond her darkness and beyond her handicap.
1. Chapter 1

**AN; This is my first chapter for my NejiXOc story "Bad Eyesight". I Don´t own Naruto byt I DO own my OCs, plot and story line.

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****The** giant forest stands tall as the powerful breeze moves between the many bamboo thickets that are nearly touching the clear blue sky. Grand bamboo leafs make it hard to get a view of the sky from the ground and the greenery shields the damp ground, wet from yesterday's downpour, from the warmth of the still raising sun. Two large cliffs divide the forest into two parts and the wreck of a long lost bridge can be seen both in the mountain and at the ground. It's the Kannabi bridge that was destroyed over twenty years ago.

A lone girl's heavy breathing breaks the calmness of the forest. A pair of pink lips is slightly parted as she inhales and exhales deeply to feed her lungs with the necessary amount of air. Her eyelids are closed and small white hairs, her oddly pale eyelashes, are drenched by her own body liquid; sweat. White yellowish brows are in a frown as she lowers Bo-staff to the ground. White hair reaches her shoulder blades as she leans down and you can see her almost sickly pale skin as it connects with a single shaft of light, she withdraws her hand quite swiftly. She position herself in a battle position with clenched fist with her eyes shut firmly.

Her green robe moves gracefully around her as she starts to punch and kick an invisible enemy who's in her mind only. She´s clad in a long sleeved kimono that ends just below her hips, the robe is unzipped and shows a quite slim stomach that's covered by a fishnet shirt that doesn't leave a single part of her body naked. Her legs are sheltered from the sun by the same fishnet as the stomach and a pair of short dark brown shorts that ends near her knees keeps her butt warm. Water leaves the ground with her kicks and the liquid dashes away from her dark green ninja sandals. She halts for a moment and creates quick signs with her hands.

"Kusa bunshin no jutsu!"

Three clones appear out of clouds of grass strands and the look-a-like gets down into fighting stances. The real one, with closed eyes, picks up her Bo-staff again and takes a step back not really knowing where to direct her wooden weapon. One of her clones makes the first move and starts running toward her with clenched fists. The real one seems to understand what she must do just as the clone starts moving and she shields herself with her staff. The wind whistles as she swings her staff quickly to push away the threat in one great and precise movement. The look-a-like fumbles back and disappears in a puff of grass as it gets hit again in the stomach. One out, two left.

Pale eyelids are firmly shut as sweat gets visible on her forehead. The pale girl, who suffers from albinism, has really bad eyesight and relies on her other senses to win a battle. Her two other clones decide to attack as a team and they charges at the same time, one from her right side and the other from the left. Vibrations in the air and ground tell the eighteen year old Grass shinobi that they've started moving. Her sensitive ears hear the sound of quick steps and the sound guides her to the left. Her long whitish-blonde hair moves around her shoulders as she turns around in a spinning motion to block a punch to her head. She feels how her Bo-staff vibrates by the connection and she's quick to punch away the arm before shielding herself from the other clone that attacks her from behind. She evades the high kick by dodging, lowers her body closer to the ground, and uses her staff to hit the lone foot that's connected to the ground. A loud bump tells her that the clone has fallen to the ground but it wasn't enough force to make it vanish. It's still two against one situation.

A frown gets visible on her face as she starts to concentrate even more. It gets eerie silent; the two clones has backed away and doesn't move. The wind is silent, no branches snap, no steps or breathing; she can't find them. She lowers her staff as she can't detect the two with her ears, eyelashes starts fluttering. A pair of blue, blurry eyes opens slowly as if it's painful to do so. The colour has faded it's like two blue misty pieces of glass and as she tilts her head to her right does the colour change to pink for a second.

She squints in her search for her clones but her eyesight doesn't get any better. The landscape around her is just spots of different shades of green, spots that are mixing together; objects with no shape, no form or meaning. It's like looking through a window drenched by the falling rain. A deep sigh leaves her pink lips as she can't find the clones but a sudden movement behind her gets her out of balance. A rather powerful punch hits her lower back and it sends her flying through the clearing. She holds back a gasps as she hits the ground with a loud bump.

_´I'm too unfocused…´_

Swishing sounds tells her to stay on the ground to escape pain. Two punches hits air as she rolls out of reach with her staff close to her body. Something sharp must have hit her kimono sleeve and the ripping sound makes her shiver. _´A kunai…one of the clones must have tried to hit me and as I moved out of the way; it hit my sleeve instead… ´_ She tries to guess how her look-a-likes could hurt her without using her eyes. Another piercing sound interrupts her thoughts and the sharp shurikens miss the target by a mere inch. _´I need to calm down and stay… focused´_

The girl hurries to get on her feet again and she shields herself from the assaults thrown at her. You can see how she mentally scolds herself for creating too many clones to fight when she's not in her best shape. Her blue eyes narrows as another punch nearly touches her cheek. Dodging quickly, she uses her staff to create some distance between her and the clones. Hitting them both vigorously on the side of their heads to get their guard down, jumping out of reach to hit their knees, the two pairs of legs give in immeadiatly and the clones fall to the ground. The albino is quick to throw her staff up into the air and instead using a pair of kunai to slice her opponents open. They disappear in a puff of grass strands as the sharp metal pierces their fake skin. A pale hand grabs her Bo-staff before the tool falls to the ground. Victory.

A small smile graces her otherwise impassive face as her senses doesn't alert her about any other danger. She has completed her training without any serious injuries once again; her misty blue eyes flutter close. The young teenage girl turns to walk home, following the path she always uses. The course that's still crystal clear in her mind even though it was over 8 years ago she last saw it. The time when she still was able to view the world with proper eyes. _So long time ago.

* * *

_**The **girl hides her face as she walks out of the bamboo forest; she uses the large hood on her kimono to shield her sensitive skin and eyes from the sun up above. The entered landscape is a couple of open rice fields with plants still growing in the damp soil. Her pair of dark ninja sandals taps the ground as she walks down the lone path, through the countryside, toward the small Grass village further up ahead. She's sweating a lot and it's not from her training. Her heavy clothing brings her down in seasons like this. But she would feel even worse if her skin got burnt. Her blue eyes are open under the hood's protection and the misty orbs are as blank as ever.

A sudden vibration in the ground forces her to stop; eyes narrowing slightly. She stops walking just in case if she's the source of the vibration but the waves running through the ground under her feet increases. Something is coming her way, fast. The girl uses her chakra to get a better view of her surroundings before she decides to take cover behind one of the few trees near the fields. Her blue chakra moves over the ground and spots two unknown powers fighting each other. _´A battle is going on not too far away from here…and they're moving this way in a high speed.´ _She hurries to hide her chakra pattern and tries to use her hearing to locate the two fighting. _´They seem to be skilled, over the Grass villige´s standard… ´_ The thought hits her as a wave of a strange and powerful chakra comes closer. Her blue eyes widen. _´This chakra is inhuman!´ _

Her heart starts beating faster as a new and eerie nervousness reaches her stomach. The situation is getting worse as she understands that the two fighting aren't from the village, but probably ninjas from either Waterfall, Rain, Fire or Earth countries and villages that's close to Grass´s borders. People from the outside are not very welcomed since the four mentioned countries used Grass as a battlefield for their battles during earlier ninja wars. Sweat rolls down her brow and this time it's not from the warmth of the sun or thick clothes. Grabbing her Bo-staff tightly she gets into fighting position just in case it gets out of hand.

Heavy but quick steps tells her about the two's positions just some few meters away from her hiding place. One of them is a little heavier than the other and she tells the two apart based on their weight and the difference in vibrations as they move around. Their heavy breathing tells her that they've fought for a while now and is near their limits. The sweet iron smell of blood starts to linger in the air around them. The inhuman chakra she felt before is increasing rapidly and the raw power sends goose bumps down her spine.

"So that's the source of your red chakra, Naruto."

A dark, husky yet dangerous voice breaks the silence and the sentence is followed by a loud growl. The ground starts vibrating as the heavier one starts to move in a crawling manner; down on all fours. _´What is this intense power?....´_ The albino can't figure it out so she opens her eyelids and focus hard to see. Large dots of orange is mixed with the green trees…_´It's huge!´_

"Sasuke…." The orange thing growls in a low tone. "I'm here to take you home, to Konoha."

This Sasuke person is just some spots of white and black mixed together with green in her eyes but his steady, calm and collected body language tells her that he's not threatened by the beast like creature…Naruto. _´What's going on here?!´_ She clenches her fists around her staff as she notice how they moves closer and closer to the village of Grass´s entrance. She can't let them find it; they're right now a big threat to her home.

"Orochimaru gives me the power I desire and I don't desire a _home with friends_ who'll bring me down in the end.." States Sasuke.

He pulls out something similar to a katana in her opinion. Something long and deadly sharp makes a noise as it gets pulled out of a holder of some sort. _´This Sasuke is on Orochimaru´s side… he's is an enemy to my village… but the other?´ _A terrible feeling takes over her body as vibrations in the ground tells her that they're just in front of her now. Too close for her liking. _´I've to act…´ _

"Orochimaru is just…"

**BANG! **

She has no clue about what happened but the orange guy or creature was silenced by the other called Sasuke. Sliced by Orochimaru´s ally, her enemy, her village´s enemy. Therefore, the one on the ground is her ally, kind of. She doesn't waste much time pondering over it.

Her large hood falls down to her back as she throws herself in between the two males to protect the unconscious Naruto. Acting quickly, she uses her Bo-staff to hit Sasuke in his chest area. A loud gasp for air tells her she hit the right point and that she has gained some few seconds. She grabs Naruto by his shoulders and uses her skills with grass jutsus to disappear in a puff of grass strands. But something sharp pierces her pale skin and interrupts the technique.

Panic makes her change plans and she turns around to dash into the opposite direction with the boy on her back. Away from the village; forcing the battle to take place further away to keep them in safety. She holds back a scream of pain as the sharp katana slices her leg, probably to make her unable to advance any further. The pain makes her fall to the ground immediately and her first instinct is to protect this orange guy from harm. Rolling over to her back she forms the right signs.

"Doton: Yomi Numa no jutsu!"

The landscape around the starts changing drastically; the wide open fields turn into wet, damp and unfriendly ground. The earth swallows itself on her command in a try to get Sasuke out of the way. But no sounds, vibrations or signs of charkra tell her if she has succeeded or not. She orders the ground to get back into its original form at last while she listens for Sasuke. _´Where is he? He can't be dead… not a ninja with that skill…´_ She hates to be half blind in situations like this.

A small gust of wind behind her makes her turn around to block Sasuke´s attack with her wooden weapon. The metal blade digs into the softer surface of her staff and a pair of bloody red eyes stares into her soul dangerously. She frowns as she realises that she won't be able to shield herself for much longer, the sharp blade will cut her weapon into two pieces easily. He's too strong for her to fight using raw strength, he has the advantage. Blue, misty eyes flicker in the sunlight and the pinkish layer gets visible as she stare into Sasuke´s gaze at last. The red, his eyes, seems to want to swallow her whole.

But just as Sasuke is about to finish her of does the vibrations in the air tells her that another person has appeared out of smoke not too far away from their position. She can't recognise the chakra and understands that whoever this person might be; he's not from her home village. She notices that the pressure against her is getting lighter and thinks that Sasuke might know this person. The blonde albino uses this to counter attack with her staff; twisting it so the katana that's stuck half through flies up into the air. She creates some distance between herself and Sasuke; regarding the situation with caution. The sound of the blade hitting the ground doesn't come and she assumes that Sasuke must have caught it.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to retreat. Orochimaru´s orders."

This new person is out of breath. ´_He must have fought too but with who?´_ A deep sign leaves Sasuke´s lips and she turns around when she finds him closer that she thought he was. He could have killed her easily. The sound of two blades pushed into their holders can be heard and then silence.

"State your name, kunoichi."

She isn't dumb. Every ninja should know that telling your name to an enemy is very dangerous and risky. But the cold tone he uses tells her that this isn't about how he will be able to track her down later; it's about honour.

"Isozaki Akai. You?"

"Uchiha…Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke and the older man with glasses disappear in a puff of smoke after some seconds. Akai sighs relived as she no longer feel their presence, the threat is gone. But her eyes turn serious again. _´I´ve to report this to the leader…This is bad.´_ She closes her eyes and uses her half broken Bo-staff to find the unconscious form on the ground. Akai grabs him by the arm and out it around her shoulders. The young man´s heavy body makes her whine by exhaustion. But a sudden pain in her right leg remembers her about her own state.

"…I just love being a ninja." Akai states in an ironic way as she starts limping toward the village. She laughs a little at her injury, not liking the outcome of the battle.

* * *

**The **Isozaki household is located in the south part of the village near the high mountains and the river that's splitting the town into two parts; the south and the north. The house is pretty large made out of bamboo thickets and dried mud. It looks good compared to the other buildings around but the material isn't as good as it should be.

Akai uses her free hand to unlock and open the front door since she knows that her family is busy working or are on missions. Silence greets her as she helps Naruto into the chilly air inside. She leads him through the hall and into the living room and lowers his limp body down to the sofa. _´I've to get in touch with the leader…But what if he's seriously injured?´ _Akai glances down at the shinobi. She decides to check his injuries, but her eye sight is really bad so she uses her hands and touch to search after wounds. Warm and wet liquid meets her pale skin as her hands move over his chest; blood. Akai turns around to get some bandage, warm water, and clean cloth. She doesn't bother treating her own wound at the moment, knowing that it's not near as serious and life threatening as the blonde´s. She kneels down besides the sofa and starts cleaning the wound with the cloth drenched with water. Akai squints as she concentrates on the red misty spots that she believes is the blood, she cleans it carefully but with clumsy movements. _´I wish mother was home…She's so much better at this…´_ Akai wraps his torn body with the bandage as good as she can and checks his breathing pattern once again.

A sudden sound takes her by surprise and she gasps silently as a hand takes hold of her shoulder. She turns her attention to the 23 year old jounin who's leaning over her with his dark, almost black, eyes fixed at Naruto´s form. He has his long hair pulled up into a high ponytail that reaches his shoulder blades. His dark orbs wanders from the wound to the blonde´s headband to Akai.

"I moved out a _week ago_ and this is what happens?" He starts arguing. "Akai, you **do** know _how _**dangerous** this can be, right? Why…?"

"I just wanted to decorate… some new pillows, a bunch of flowers… an unknown shinobi...what did you think?" She interrupts her brother in a sarcastic way. But she's somewhat angry with him or, also, at herself for not noticing his presence at all. Akai hides her true nature when someone looks down on her, or treats her differently because of her handicap. It's like a defence from being weak. This fake personality has grown ever since the people around her started doubting her skills as a ninja, doubting her skills in everything. She can't really tell her two personalities apart, it just changes depending on her mood and who he's with. She used to be calm, wise and cunning.

"Haha… you're _not_** funny**! I'll go and report this to the leader. You, treat that wound of yours and keep an eye on the Konoha shinobi. I'll bring mother. " Yells her brother, Aoi, before he disappears in a cloud of grass strands. He's a very responsible man but also very strict and arrogant.

"Sure I'll keep _an eye_ on him!" _`I'm half blind you idiot!´_ Something about Aoi seems to be triggering her fake, defensive mask.

Akai frowns angrily but the façade fades slowly and her pale face goes blank. She sits down on the floor next to the sofa, close to the small table and starts cleaning her own wound with less caution. She sighs. Blue eyes flutter open as the front door opens, a familiar voice informs her that her other brother, Gosai, is home from the newly opened ninja academy.

"Onee-san, I'm home…"

The black haired 10 year old walks into the house but stops in the doorway as he spots blood on the floor. His chocolate brown eyes narrow at the sight of the red liquid. He hurries to take of his dirty ninja shoes.

"O-Onee-san!?"

"Hai hai. I'm here Gosai-chan." Akai answers in a bored tone from the living room when she spots fear in her little brother's voice. "Everything is alright." She continues tiredly.

"There's blood everywhere!" Gosai states as if he's thinking that it's a cool thing.

"…I've got hurt during practice."

"Do you want me to go and fetch mum?"

Their mother, Akane, works at the hospital and is one of the few in the village who masters the healing technique of a medic. Since the Grass country isn't a very highly ranked amoung other countries, the hospital doesn't have enough equipment to use that kind of jutsus. Akai´s village has just started to focus more on their protection, ninjas, and is slowly getting more and more skilled warriors.

"No, Aoi is doing that. You just missed him. Thank you."

Gosai nods to himself, glad that his brother passed by, and walks through the hall to greet his sister. His eyes widen once again as he sees the blonde ninja clad in orange. Akai, who senses her brother's surprise, sigh. Akai doesn't need to see her brother's expression to understand what he's feeling she can read him as an open book. She ties the bandage around her now slightly swollen injury and tilts her head toward the doorway she knows Gosai is standing in.

"He's out cold. You can enter."

"You know mum always told us not to bring stray animals into the house…" Gosai enters slowly and sits down besides Akai with his eyes glued on Naruto´s face. Inspecting him.

"He's not an animal."

"Well I just mean that it's probably the same with stray people." Answers Gosai, noticing that the blonde really looks like a cat or something with those whisker-scars. Akai smiles tiredly at her brother's way too cute behaviour. He's a very innocent child deep within. You can clearly see the difference between the two siblings as they sit side by side on the floor. Gosai who was born with the usual Isozaki characteristics has short wild black hair, a pair of chocolate brown eyes and light brown skin. Akai who's suffering from Albinism has whitish-blonde hair, blue eyes and pale skin.

"I guess we have to wait and see… She's home any minuet now."

* * *

**Akane** follows her oldest son Aoi down the streets in the north side of the village toward their home on the other side of the bridge. Her nut brown hair is pulled up into a nice and proper bun but a few tresses are loose and frame her face. Her brown-red eyes are outlined by a pair of thick glasses. She's a healthy woman in her later forties dressed in white hospital robes. She's not a shinobi so both are running normally toward the house near the mountains.

The first thing Akane does when she arrives is to look at her child, inspecting her. She stares at the ripped clothes, messy hair, pink irritated skin and the wound on her leg. She was worried sick when Aoi came rushing into her office shouting about how Akai, her only daughter, was hurt and how she brought an unknown shinobi into the house.

"Welcome home." Akai starts in a calm but tired tone. "Mother can you take a look at him?" She points her finger toward the konoha ninja with her eyes fixed somewhere else.

"Akai go and take a quick cold shower now! Aoi get my equipment! Gosai-chan…start cleaning up the blood! Akai prepare yourself for a_ long_ talk later." Akane gets into her "_hospital mode"_ and stats giving orders_. _

She sends Akai a long worried but strict glance before she turns her full attention to the hurt shinobi lying in the couch. Green chakra is already glowing around her two hands. Akai obeys the order thinking that a shower is just what she needs at the moment.

"Why do I've to clean up this mess? It was Akai not me who did it." Gosai wines to himself as he walks into the hall to get to work. He can't say no to his mother.

Akai closes her eyes as the cold pouring water chills down her hot, swollen, torn, aching and irritated skin. Blood colours the water red as it travels down her snow white, naked body down to the floor and down the outlet. She enjoys the feeling and leans back against the wall holding the shower handle over her head. Akai is not aware of that this day changed her fate drastically. Saving Uzumaki Naruto is something she might end up both regretting and enjoying.

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**AN; first chapter done! I hope you liked it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN; Chapter two!

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****Akai **eats slowly to save herself from burning her tongue on the spicy dishes while listening to the birds singing outside. She sits alone in the Isozaki garden to get the chance to calm down after her intense training just some minuets before. It has passed two days since she found the Konoha ninja in the woods. Her leg is getting better but it's still sore and Akai avoids using it more than necessary. Akai and her family are waiting for Naruto´s awakening so everyone can get an explanation from the blonde.

She sits leaning against one of the tall trees in the middle of the garden. Her whitish-blonde hair is pulled back into a loose and messy ponytail but some strands frames her pale face just as her eyelashes frames her closed eyes. Her light green long sleeved kimono has some small stitches where Sasuke hit her but it looks new, her fishnet shirt and trousers are fixed so as her short dark shorts. She has pulled of her ninja sandals and is playing with some grass strands with her toes without thinking about it. Chewing on her lash piece of chicken she stands up to walk back into the house, grabbing her shoes with her free hand.

Her mother greets her with a smile and takes the bowl to start washing it by hand. Akai murmurs a thank you before she heads toward the front door without opening her eyes. She knows her house well and is aware of every door, doorstep and room. Her blonde ponytail falls down over her right shoulder as she leans down to put on her shoes.

"Are you heading out again?" Her mother asks from the kitchen.

"Yes. Yoshi forced me and Kanaye-san to tag along somewhere…I'll be home before nightfall."

"That sounds just like him. Be careful." She starts but her eyes widen as she remembers. "Akai you haven't forgotten the sun lotion?"

"I think I took too much; my face is all slippery." She replies with a little sarcasm in her voice while touching her face.

Akai turns her back to her mother and opens the door to leave but Akane is quickly by her daughter's side and inspects her half unzipped kimono jacket. Akai turns when she feels how hands start to zip up her clothes. The girl who's suffering from Albinism is mentally sighing as she thinks that her mother acts a little too caring.

"I think we need to buy you a new jacket with a higher collar, I don't think this one is shielding you neck…"

"I like this jacket and more cloth would just make me sweat more during practise..." Akai sighs interrupting Akane. "I'm fine mom. I've to go now or I'll be late. Keep an eye on the Konoha shinobi. Bye."

Akai walks out.

"Don't forget to walk Gosai-chan home!"

She shuts the door firmly, almost not catching that last sentence.

* * *

**The **soft breeze caresses her face as she walks over the bridge over to the north part of the village. The gentle sound of waves below gives the Chuunin a clear picture of the river under her until a pair of steps approaches in the other direction. She's fully aware of that the women's chatter dies out as they pass her by. Two pairs of eyes stare at her; she knows. Her odd looks has always attracted people and they stare like she's some animal at the zoo.

"1000 yen and you can look as long as you want ladies."

Akai reacts like that; shielding herself with rudeness. Feeling that her true self fades inside of her for every time she has to snap at someone, just to protect herself and tell them that there's a limit. Tapping sounds behind her back tells her that the women increased their speed to get away. Away from her.

Akai walks through the village, greeting friends and elders, while keeping her head up high. She knows what people thinks of her. _´What a freak´ _or_ ´She´s nice hair. Can I touch?´_ Her albinism has always brought her down but she has improved and gotten better since she became Chuunin. But she can't ignore the pain when someone insults her.

Akai arrives at her old team´s usual training ground where Yoshi said they would meet. The eighteen year old is the last to arrive and she smiles as Uesugi Yoshi and Makiguchi Kanaye greets her.

Yoshi is the hot head in the team; he's impulsive, aggressive and very quick to insult people. He's the only one who's still a Genin and that's because his foul mouth got him into a rather unpleasant situation during the last exam and he was forced to stay hospitalised. But Yoshi is different to his friends he can be really friendly, but he can also be a teaser. He's pretty short for his age and doesn't weight much so he uses his small body to gain speed in battles. He has speed but no physical power. Yoshi has dark green, almost black, wild hair that reaches the end of his neck. His eyes are golden.

Kanaye is a chuunin and is a very quiet and mature person. He doesn't say much but he's always there for you no matter what situation. Kanaye is a power package and uses his whole body in his attacks. He's got a great body but girls seem to think that he's too well built. He has short brown hair and chocolate coloured skin, jade green eyes and he doesn't mind what he's wearing. Just a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts are alright for him.

"Akai long time no see!" Chants Yoshi.

"How are you?" Wonders Kanaye.

"Hello. I'm just fine. It's nice to see you guys again."

Akai smiles with her whole hear as she tells them that. She can be herself around the two men, well most of the time, and she utterly enjoys their company. Yoshi and Kanaye are two of the few people who believe in Akai and her abilities as a kunoichi, and they don't judge her by her handicap or odd looks.

"So what are you up to? Preparing for exams?"

"I'll do the Chuunin exam this year in Suna, I've heard that the new Kazekage has planned an awesome challenge in the deserts! I'm so fired up." Answers Yoshi.

"Sounds cool. Kanaye?"

"No… I'll pass this time. I'm thinking of taking over my father's business and start raising horses. He needs all help he can get in the stable." Replies Kanaye.

"And you Akai?"

"Well I plan to try out the Jounin exam but I'm not sure my mother allows me to. Especially if it's in Suna, I can't stand the sun or heat."

"That sucks." States Yoshi.

"Haha... well I can't change the fact that I'm an albino. So, Yoshi, do you have any plans for your training?" She laughs if off half heartily.

"Maybe I'll ask Aoi-senpai for help…" He answers noticing the fake Akai´s fake smile.

"…" Akai starts glaring. "No! I'm not allowing you to ask my brother to help you with your training!"

"Why?" Yoshi asks in a fake voice. _´Great I can make her think about other stuff in just a second.´_

"Because…He's busy, that's it!

"You just don't want to share him! _Bakayaro_!"

"Well…do as you wish!"

"Oh mi gawd! Akai_-chan _is pissed. Wonder why?"_ `Haha It's so fun messing with her.´_

Kanaye sighs at his two ex-team mates as they just keep on arguing. But he knows that the two is really close and that's why both are usually smiling while arguing. But something about Akai bothers him; it's as if she's really fighting this time. But the expression is hidden below the surface as if it hasn't been discovered yet. _`She's acting like a bird caught in a cage…unable to spread her wings freely.´

* * *

_**Gosai** smiles as his sister appears in front of him by using a basic Kusa jutsu, the ten year old takes her hand as they walk down the road toward the bridge. The sun is slowly sinking near the horizon and the once blue sky turn orange and pink.

"Akai onee-san! You know I fought this big guy today! He was so fat and he tried to bully Takao so I just; _´Leave him alone! Don't bully people smaller than you!´_ And the fatty became so scared and ran off!"

"Oh."

"Yeah! And you know what? The snobby Takao thanked me and asked if we could play together! I mean he was like really nice!"

"Gosai-chan don't judge people, ok? Takao-san is surly a nice person."

"Yes… you know sensei praised me today!" Gosai is good at changing subject.

Akai walks in silence; half listening and half thinking for herself.

* * *

**Akai** awakens as the sun touches her face through the window. She yawns and stretches before getting out of bed. She walks slowly without making a sound, down the stairs to prepare herself for her morning practice. But a sudden sound makes her turn her focus toward the living room. It takes some time before she understands that it´s the Konoha ninja who´s the source of the sound. Akai kneels down beside the sofa as she feels and hears how the guy lying there is slowly regaining his consciousness. She opens her eyes and tries to focus on the body but her sight is as blurry as ever. A gasp leaves his mouth and the weak sound is followed by a louder bump, Akai feels how a foot hits her tight as the Konoha ninja probably falls out of the sofa. Akai smiles and is just about to greet him but he interrupts her.

"A-a-a ghost!"

Naruto has fallen down to the floor and is lying at his back pointing his finger at Akai´s face. His blue eyes are narrow but the orbs grow as the young man realises that it's a person in front of him and not a spirit. Akai´s smile fades slowly and a frown takes its place.

"Hello to you too Mr Sunshine." Greets Akai with a bitter tone.

Akai earlier excited expression turns into bitterness and she doesn't stay by the shinobi´s side for long. She puts her hand on the foot that's close to her thigh and puts her body weight on it as she gets up from the floor. Naruto´s eyes becomes narrow again as pain reaches his senses.

"Itai itai itai yo!"

"Mother, he's awake!" She ignores Naruto completely.

Akai lets go of Naruto´s foot and disappears into the kitchen with a pair of blue eyes glued on her back. Naruto glares at her furiously as he tries to take away the pain in his ankle by some massage. Akane opens the bathroom door with a bang and is by Naruto´s side as fast as lightning. She smiles sweetly and starts using her medic skills to take away the soreness with her long piano fingers. But she gets pushed away.

"Where the hell am I?!"

"In a small village in the country of Grass. My daughter Akai found you in the bamboo forest in the north. You were seriously injured so she took you here. I'm Isozaki Akane one of this village's few medics. I'll do as much as I can but I'm not near the skills of a Konoha medic."

Naruto allows Akane to treat his wounds this time but his eyes travel to the girl who's sitting alone in the kitchen with a teacup between her pale hands. The blonde frowns; he doesn't believe that she saved him; she purposely hurt him just a moment ago! He notices how her unclear blue eyes become distant before he focus on Akane once again. He's slowly remembering his fight with Sasuke.

"Thank you Akane-san. Do you know if someone else was found?"

"No. I'm sorry but I don't know. When I've finished healing your wounds I'll ask Akai to take you to our leader. I hope he'll be able to help you as you might be able to help us."

Gosai who's been hiding behind the closet peeks out to take a look at the cat-like ninja his sister found some days ago. The ten year old steps out from his hiding place as blue eyes meet his brown stare.

"Hi there kiddo." Naruto greets him with his trademark smile.

"Hello. I'm Gosai."

Naruto points at himself.

"The name is Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

**Naruto **glances at Akai as she leads him through the village. The blonde can't help but wonder what's wrong with the girl. She's pale as a ghost, got really weird hair colour, her eyes are so distant all the time and her strange, rude attitude. He thought at first that her odd looks might be a Kekkei Genkai but the rest of her family looks nothing like her so it's not possible.

"You're staring."

"I was not, dattebayo."

Akai turns to face Naruto, using the sound waves he's creating by talking as her guide to know where he is exactly.

"Sorry, but I'm not _that _naïve."

They cross the bridge and turns left, heading toward a rather tall building in the west direction.

"What's wrong with you anyway?"

"What!?" Akai snaps surprised.

"You look really sick with that pale skin… and your eyes. You should go to the hospital."

"…" She ignores him.

"Akai-san?"

"Just shut up, okey?! My condition has nothing to do with you. Just keep quiet and keep walking."

"Hey!"

Naruto frowns as anger grows inside of him. This girl is seriously pissing him off. He grabs her by her shoulder and forces her to a halt. He turns her around so they faces each other; her long loose hair moves around her face. They're so close he can literally feel her body becoming tense. But that's not the thing that caught him. Her eyes look at him but are still not looking. Her misty orbs are empty and even how much she tries to focus her gaze she isn't able to meet his eyes. Naruto´s eyes widen.

"You…You're blind?"

Akai grits her teeth and pushes away Naruto´s hand on her shoulder forcefully.

"…Yeah! Are you happy now, hah?!"

"..I..." Naruto can't find any words.

"One favour Naruto; don't feels sorry for me, because I don't need your pity."

Naruto follows Akai in silence as they walk the remaining meters to the building. He can't help but thank that he's a jerk who asked so many rough questions about her. He understands her a little; she doesn't want sympathy. ´_But she's a real jerk too´_.

* * *

**Akai** knocks on the door before entering; she bows respectfully in the direction she knows the leader is sitting. Naruto does the same. The leader, who's a man in his late 60, regards them in silence. He wears a green robe with the grass symbol printed on the front.

"Isozaki Akai-san please tell us what happened."

"I was training alone in the bamboo forest two days ago. I noticed a strange inhuman chakra and decided to explore it further. There were two boys fighting but none of them were Grass ninjas. I saw something huge; like a beast fighting a young man dressed in white and black. One of them spoke of Orochimaru and I decided that he's an enemy and a threat to our village. So when he tried to finish the other off I interfered and saved his life."

Akai nods toward Naruto.

"The man dressed in black and white was skilled and forced me into battle. We got interrupted and the name _Orochimaru_ was mentioned once again. The young man, who said his name is Uchiha Sasuke, retreated together with another male who I doesn't know anything about."

"Leader-sama… we can't rely on her sight."

One of the leader´s adviser whispers but both Akai and Naruto hears it. The Konoha ninja glances at Akai in the corner of his eye as he feels how she tenses by the insult. Naruto frowns.

"She's telling the truth."

Akai flinches.

"So you're Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yes."

"So let's hear your story."

"I was out on a mission together with my team; our motive was to bring back Uchiha Sasuke who betrayed Konoha over four years ago. Some new information told us that Orochimaru´s whereabouts were near the border between Earth and Grass so we headed there to search after him. And we found him."

Naruto´s voice gets horse and it´s Akai´s turn to gaze at him.

"We battled and the fight brought us deeper and deeper into a forest with bamboo thickets. I got separated from my team who fought Orochimaru and his servant; Kabuto. The man who Akai-san didn't know anything about. So I was stuck fighting Uchiha Sasuke on my own and I was losing badly. Akai saved me."

The leader regards Akai and Naruto in silence. He closes his eyes and sighs deeply, scratching his bald head. His adviser is quiet as well when he realised that their stories are trustworthy. The leader is well aware of what threat Orochimaru could become. And Uchiha Sasuke´s case is well known in Grass too. This is not a time for hesitation.

"Isozaki Akai-san. Your mission is to escort Uzumaki Naruto back to Konoha as his bodyguard. But also to strengthen the bond between Grass and Leaf. I'll prepare the papers right away. We'll not accept our forests to be used for another country's battle again. You'll leave tomorrow morning."

The leader turns to his adviser.

"Inform every Chuunin and Jounin about the incident. Orochimaru might still be inside of Grass´s borders. Send an owl to the Hokage. Go!"

* * *

_**Dear mother, Gosai-chan and Aoi.**_

_**I'm on a mission, the time of my return is not certain. It might take a week, or a month. **_

_**Akai.

* * *

**_**AN; hope you liked it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN; Akai and Naruto will arrive in Konoha! Wonder who will greet them at the gates?

* * *

****The **sun is slowly rising at the horizon and its beams start to heat up the chilly atmosphere. Small drops of water collected on the many trees start to disappear as morning turns into day. The pretty strong wind makes the bamboo forest whistle a hollow melody as the air rushes through the mass of trees like it's in a rush.

You can see how two ninja jumps from tree to tree down there from the birds' perspective. One of them, a young woman, melts into the background with nature coloured clothes while the other, a younger male, is like some kind of stop light. They are slowly getting closer to the spot where Grass, earth, fire, waterfall and rain borders meet. But it's still a long way to go. The young woman, Akai, keeps silent as she feels how the man, Naruto, keeps sending her glances. They have travelled together for some hours but the tense silence has not once been broken. But he is the one that speaks his mind first.

"Do you… know the way to Konoha?"

Akai doesn't bother to try to look at Naruto as he speaks. She understands his questions behind this question and decides to answer them all. She sighs silently. _How can a blind girl show the way? _Akai is tired and she doesn't have energy to argument about the way Naruto probably is viewing her Albinism.

"I know the way, yes. But since I've not been there before I can only guide you to the border. But I guess you recognise the way when we arrive in the fire country."

Naruto nods and jumps to the ground to avoid being hit by the bamboo trees long and sharp branches. He runs in a zig-zag pattern before using a rock to jump up to run closer to Akai. She glances in his direction to tell him that she have noticed him.

"You're pretty amazing Akai-san. I mean you're blind but you can run like this without running into something."

She can tell the he tells her the truth, his honest voice doesn't waver. Akai understands that he's trying to compliment her but the statement is only making it worse. It's clear now; the Konoha shinobi is underestimating her completely. _When will people start seeing me and not my handicap? _Something within her wants to prove herself worthy, show the real her and gain the respect she deserves. But another part of her doesn't want to. She wants to find that person, the person who sees Akai as the person she really is. Someone who doesn't need the fact that she's just as skilled as a _normal _girl to be punched into his face.

"Naaaah, I'm not_ that_ skilled. It's just pure luck. I bet on that you'll at least see me run into three trees before we arrive." Akai answers in an ironic way.

"Hehe. Don't worry Akai-san! I'll catch you before you run into something. I promise."

Naruto didn't get the irony at all. Akai sweat drops anime style at his cheerful promise. But she shakes her irritation away and starts thinking of how lucky she really is to be able to go on this long mission all by her self. It has been a while since she was on a mission with her old team and her parents nearly forbid her to take on dangerous tasks back then. It has always been like that for her. She's really grateful but her parents concern hurts her more than helping her sometimes. Her albinism has caused her many problems and limited the places she can go to without help. So being outside like this without her family's over protectiveness is really nice.

"Thanks, but **I** _can_ take care of myself."

"Oh I didn't mean it like…"

"It's OK Naruto-san." Akai interrupts in a cold voice telling Naruto that he shouldn't speak more about it. She can tell by her raging irritation that if he continues to talk like this she will eventually lose her cool and start yelling.

"Hey you don't need to be stingy. I just care…"

"Well that's the problem! I said that I don't need your pity!"

"What's wrong with you!?"

"You don't know me so just stop it OK?! Just keep your distance and we'll make it to Konoha alive. End of discussion."

Naruto´s usually calm blue eyes turn narrow as he turns quickly to face Akai but the blonde didn't expect her to be so quick and get out of his way. Akai jumps down from the bamboo tree and whirls around in the air so she's facing the man she's supposed to protect. The whitish blonde girl feels how the air around them vibrates and the small waves in the air tell her Naruto´s precise location.

"I don't understand you at all Akai-san." Naruto starts in an uncharacteristic cold voice that makes her focus more on him. "It's like you hate it when people cares about you." Even though this is just a statement does Akai catch something very personal in the blonde's voice.

The grass Kunoichi is quick to start investigating this thought as to find a weakness. She can still feel how tense Naruto is through the airwaves. Tense, he's ready to attack. Her ear catches the soft sound of his quick breathing; he's thinking about something that angers him. _I must have hit one of his nerves or something? _Akai takes a step back so she's standing in a more balanced position if he decides to charge at her.

Naruto glares at the girl in front of him. He can't understand why she's acting this way when he only wants to help her. He would do anything to be in her place and know that people do really care. But she's literally saying no to the attention, the attention he so longed for as a child. The protection and care. Uzumaki Naruto has always lived alone with no one that cares for him. But it changed eventually. But this girl…She's making him very frustrated.

"I don't want to fight since I know that you're still hurt, Naruto-san… So let's stop this now."

"I'm not a moron, dattebayo." Naruto slowly relaxes. "I know that I can't fight in my condition."

Akai´s blue eyes narrow as she feels how he passes her by. The wind created by him touches her face softly and makes her hair float in the air for a second. She sighs and her tense shoulders falls down a little as she turns to follow the Konoha shinobi. _This is so going to be a long journey…

* * *

_**It **has been a long day and the two shinobi decided that it's time to rest. The sun is slowly disappearing as the huge moon appears instead. The dark sky is clouded and Naruto doubt he'll be able to go stargazing later. He's currently lying on his back under the sky with his arms behind his head as a pillow. He enjoys the warmth from the fire Akai set up and is silently regarding her, from the corner of his eye, as she starts brushing her hair. The young woman is sitting on the ground leaning against one of the many trees with her eyes closed, completely ignoring him. Naruto snorts and turns his gaze elsewhere. _I can't stand that girl, that's for sure…_

"You can sleep, I'll be on guard." She tells him in a tone that tells him that she won't listen to his answer anyway.

Naruto doesn't bother and turns around so he's lying at his side. He winces as pain travels through his sore body. Even though Akai-san´s mother healed him as good as she could he can still feel his wounds from his battle. He knows that the Kyuubi´s powers are already working on getting him better at the moment. _I've to be patient… We'll arrive in Konoha in about two days… _Uzumaki Naruto closes his eyes and tries to focus on something more pleasant than his sore body and the fact that he's stuck in the middle of nowhere with a girl that hates him. Darkness surrounds him as he slowly falls into the world of dreams.

Akai notices that Naruto´s breathing becomes softer and his chakra level lower, he's asleep. She opens her eyes to take a look at her surroundings. The blurry picture of a fire invades her sight, orange colours that float in the darker air. Akai squints without realising it when she tries to see the outlines of the young man sleeping on the other side of the fire. But Naruto´s yellow and orange colours disappear into the fire and she can't see him at all. Akai´s blue eyes looks like pink as the light from the fire is reflected in her robs, she closes them slowly.

* * *

**The** calmness in the village hidden in the Grass is broken as a nervous and panicked mother, Akane, rushes toward the main building where the leader is supposed be in this early hour. Aoi follows his mother with a more collected expression than the woman. She literally beaks into the leader's room.

"How could you!?" She pants. "How could you send away my daughter all alone like that?"

The leader sighs like he's been expecting this. He regards Akane and Aoi and understands that both of them are really upset about his decision about sending Akai on a solo mission.

"She's a ninja, Akane-san." He starts. "You knew it was going to be like this when you first allowed Akai-san to start her training."

"I didn't want her to become a ninja in the first place! She has a handicap Leader-sama, please send Aoi and some others as back up!..."

"Why don't you start to have faith in her?" The leader interrupts her harshly.

The leader watches Akane with a cold stare. He understands why she's so worried over this but doesn't she see that what Akai really needs is the freedom to spread her wings and live her own life?

"What do _you_…I do believe in her."

"Then you should know that she's skilled enough to complete this kind of mission. Case solved. I'm a busy man so please leave."

Akane stands there dumb folded with her mouth open in a silent protest. Aoi put his hand on his mother's shoulder as a sign of comfort. He gives the old man's back a cold stare as he silently turns his mother around and follows her out of the room.

"I shouldn't have allowed her to become a ninja…"

"…But _he_ wanted it." States Aoi. "_**Father**_ _wanted_ her to go after her dreams. Mother, we can't change the past…"

"But Aoi, what if she gets hurt?"

"Let's believe that she won't."

Aoi smiles softly at Akane and puts his arm around her shoulder in a comforting manner. He leads her toward their home. Akane calms down and realises that she acted in an immature way. Gosai stands in the doorway with a worried look on his face when Aoi opens it.

"… Where's Akai onee-chan?"

* * *

**Akai** sneezes three times and the sound echo between the trees in the forest around her. She frowns as her nose doesn't stop tickling. Naruto turns his gaze toward her for a moment before looking away again; keeping his eyes on the ground so he won't trip. Akai hurries to jump away so she won't run into a nearby branch that she nearly missed because of her sneezing.

"Atchooo!"

Her tickling nose worsens her ability to locate branches, rocks or stuff that's in her way. She frowns and decides that it's safer for her on the ground at the moments so she joins Naruto. The blonde looks up at her for a second.

"Bless you."

"Hn…How's your wound?"

Akai have to ask since it's her mission to guide Uzumaki Naruto to Konoha and keep him alive during the journey. Naruto seems to understand that Akai doesn't ask of kindness and he answers her question rather flatly.

"It's Ok."

* * *

**It´s **slowly getting darker as the two reach their second day of travelling through the forest toward the Grass´s border. Akai has already notices the small change in temperature as they slowly get closer to the fire country. The dampness in the air has disappeared and it has at least gotten two degrees warmer.

Something about the change makes her feel a little lost and eerie but she shakes it of. Everyone would be feeling like this when it's your first time outside your village this year? But the strange feeling doesn't vanish, Akai glances over her shoulder, searching for a reason.

"It seems like we'll reach the border tomorrow morning. After that you'll have to guide us to Konoha, Naruto-san." She speaks with her mind fixed on something else.

The sudden smell of perfume makes her wince. _I didn't put on any perfume…and Naruto doesn´t use it so why this scent? _Her shoulders get tense as the eerie feeling grows. _Is someone watching us?_ Naruto looks at Akai with a teasing smile on his lips.

"I understand, demo ano sa ano sa! Do we have some more Ramen?"

A swift movement proves Akai´s theory; someone is watching them from the shadows. _Okay...let's pretend I didn't notice…_

"No you ate it all yesterday, remember?" _"Naruto someone is watching us." _She adds in a very low tone.

Naruto stays silent for a moment and Akai is, for one second, afraid that he would ruin it by showing the one following them that they knows. But the blonde Konoha ninja nods discreetly as he also notices the presence behind them. His blue eyes are for the first time looking at Akai with seriousness in them.

"…Do we have anything else to eat?" _"Yes. They are about five people…Their chakra isn't very impressive but…" _

"I've saved some apples…" _"What should we do? Wait for them to make the first move?" _

"That won't fill my stomach!" _"Hai." _

"Well sorry for not packing enough food, but honestly, I didn't believe that you would eat this much you moron!"

Akai turns her focus to the sound behind her, but it's hard to concentrate when they have to talk like this. The young woman with the diagnosis; albinism stops suddenly and her eyes widen as her senses catches a low rustling sound. Akai is quick to throw herself toward Naruto and shield him from the rain of shuriken coming his way. The two teens fall to the ground uninjured and Akai hurries to take forth her bo-staff.

"AH!?" Shouts Naruto surprised.

Akai feels how her heart starts to pump out her blood faster than usual as she starts to search after her enemies' locations by using her ears. She closes her eyes.

"Naruto shut up for a moment."

"NANDE?!"

But Akai isn't able to locate them since Naruto doesn't listen to her and instead of obeying her, he continues to make more noise. He rushes forward without thinking suddenly and it makes Akai tense. Her eyes narrow as she understands his intention.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

"NO! Naruto-san step back! You're still injured!" _and I thought we were able to cooperate for once…_

But the Konoha shinobi doesn't listen he just keeps on fighting the enemy she can't see. The sound of his clones disappearing tells her that he's losing but the sound does also confuse her when she's searching for the enemy. Akai lower her bo-staff as panic starts to grow inside of her; she can't do anything!

"Bakayaro! What the hell do you want?" Naruto Screams, you can hear some pain in his hoarse voice.

This tells Akai that he's in a pinch and she hurries to turn to the direction of the sound. A deep male voice chuckle teasingly as the sound of battle fades. Akai uses her staff as a shield when the voice approaches her slowly. Her misty eyes can't focus and her poor sight isn't helping her at all. A high chuckle from behind makes her turn around swinging her staff with full power as she does so.

"What's wrong with you, little girl? Can't see us?"

"Look at her face; she's just like a ghost…"

"Her hair is just like silk." Akai flinches as she feels how some fingers touch her hair from behind but when she turns around to fight him off, he's gone. Akai grits her teeth. A loud bump is heard and a body falls to the ground groaning by pain. That loud and irritating voice can only belong to one person.

"Naruto-san!"

Naruto turns in pain as he lies there on the ground unable to do anything. His body is paralyzed by this new pain and the pain from his reopened wound. He growls angrily at the men.

"Give us your money and we'll let you live."

The men are just simple bandits who kill people to get money! Akai feels how this situation starts to get hopeless. But suddenly…

"Naruto-san keep talking! I've an idea."

"Huh? But you said that…" He groans.

"Just talk!"

Naruto continues to speak, whine and shout as the men tries to threaten him. Akai smirks a little as the sound waves around her shows her exactly where the blonde is.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!"

Akai uses her chakra to make the ground around her disappear. Naruto´s loud yelling tells her that he's ok and that her attack didn't hit him as she had predicted. She grins and steers large rock toward the fleeing enemy. The sound of moving is too loud to keep them unnoticed. She _can see_ them. A pale hand directs the stone and when she clenches it a loud shout is heard. One of them is down; four remaining.

"Leave him, he's already dead!" The leader of the gang of bandits screams.

That was a huge mistake. His loud voice makes the radar in her head find him just as it finds fish out on the sea. A large red spot appears inside of Akai´s head and she turns all her focus toward it and charges. Grabbing her staff firmly she dashes of toward the man, professionally avoiding to trip on the new landscape she created before. Her blonde hair frames her face as she swings her staff and punches the man in his chest area. Her pinkish blue eyes get larger as her senses grows stronger as the smell of blood invades the air around her.

"Watch it!" The man's underlings screams to help their master.

Akai stumbles back as a powerful punch hits her right cheek. Pain invades her senses and it feels as if he crushed her jaw in that punch. The warm liquid colours her pale skin red. Stunned by the sudden attack Akai fails to notice another punch; it hits her in the stomach hard. She gasps desperately for air as she's thrown backwards by the raw force of the punch. A painful whimper leaved her lips as she hits the ground rough fully; blood starts to float out of her mouth. The young woman starts coughing to get her throat free of the liquid. Her green kimono sleeve gets dirty as she wipes it of.

"A wounded blonde idiot and a blind little girl… You're gonna pay for killing our comrade!" Roars the man angrily. "Get them!"

Naruto forces his sore and aching body to stand as two ninjas approach him with their weapons ready. He curses under his breath, knowing that he won't be able to win this. His blue eyes turn to Akai and he regards how she starts fighting with the leader and one of the others. He's amazed by her strength and ability; he never thought that a blind girl could do so much damage. He turns back to the ones surrounding him.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

_I've to try it… Even though it might fail…_

"Rasengan!"

His clone and Naruto creates a small ball of chakra and he uses it to punch away one of the two attacking him. The ball creates a small hole in the man's chest and both ninjas can hear his last breath leave his lips. Naruto breathes quickly and his body shakes with exhaustion, but he's still standing when the other ninja charges to avenge his friend. _This is it… I can't control my body any longer…_He sees it in slow-motion as the ninja rushes toward him screaming loudly. Naruto closes his eyes and awaits pain. But what hit him isn't the sharp kunai, its small drops of blood. The light, warm feeling makes him open one eye slowly. He gasps.

"N-naruto-san…."

Naruto´s exhausted body gives in at last and he falls to the ground behind Akai´s shielding back. He leans back and stares at the grass kunoichi in front of him with wide eyes. She's standing there like a human shield, protecting him while blood floats out of her mouth too quickly for his liking. _Akai-san is…She's covering me? _Naruto groans as he stops his own bleeding by holding his hand over his reopened wound. He squints up at her form again. _How did she know I was in danger when she can't see? _

Akai shields herself with her bo-staff and uses it to keep her enemy away from her. Two's dead so it's only three that remains alive. They were in a pinch from the beginning with five against two but this situation isn't better. Handling two ninjas by herself right now is not close to possible. A deep frown covers her pale face.

"Listen, we don't have any money. So retreat now or you'll end up as your two comrades."

Silence. The only sound around her is heavy breathing but that's enough for her; she can see them clearly now. Their breathing pattern and the smell of blood is easy to spot without using her eyes. Her legs are shaking and it's becoming harder to stand completely still, her hands are sweaty and her grip on the staff is getting slippery, she can't control her breathing anymore; these bandits have forced her to become _this _serious. Akai opens her eyes slowly but she isn't aware that she's staring at the leader straight in the eye. His dark brown eyes narrow as he notice how her blue orbs turn pink from time to time.

"_Leave_ …**now**."

And their presence disappears, just as the tenseness and electric atmosphere. Akai sighs relieved as the signs of the bandits disappears completely. A weak smile graces her now red lips that's coloured by her own blood. She wipes it off carelessly already knowing that her pain will fade soon.

* * *

**Naruto **eyes snap open as Akai falls to her knees beside him in the grass. He looks at her with his blue eyes and he notices her slightly swollen cheek and bruised lip.

"Where does it hurt?"

Naruto looks at her with surprise in his eyes. He has never heard Akai speak so softly before; it's almost like she actually cared about his health.

"The wound on my chest…"

Akai nods silently as she slowly touches Naruto´s stomach carefully; blue eyes widen as she starts to take of his jacket and t-shirt. A small blush grown on his cheeks. A chuckle leaves Akai´s mouth as she also notice this.

"Calm down. I can barely see, remember?"

"…yeah."

Naruto helps the girl as much as he's able to by turning his body so the cloth gets of him easier. The Konoha ninja can't help but feel a little exposed when he lies there in the grass with a bare upper body. But thankfully, the pain keeps his thoughts occupied. Akai pulls out some bandages and cloths from her small poach that's attached to her shorts. Her long piano fingers travel up his stomach slowly, like the touch of a butterfly, while searching for the wound.

"I'm sorry but I've to do it like this since I can't see the injury..." She speaks in a low voice.

"It´s.._argh_..OK."

Naruto groans a little as Akai reaches the wound. She's very careful when she touches it to get a good view of its location in her mind. The blonde Konoha ninja winces as she starts to clean the pretty deep cut with disinfecting liquid. He notices that Akai is very careful with her finger movements but she does from time to time fail with what she wanted to do. It's hard for her to do things like this when she can't rely on her sight. But the end result is really good and the new and fresh bandage feels ok against his swollen skin.

"Ano sa…I think I'm starting to understand you, Akai-san."

Her fingers stop moving.

"You can't feel at ease when people want to protect you because you believe that they're thinking that you're weak…that they're treating you differently cus of your Albinism so you want to prove the opposite. That you can take care of yourself like everyone else. Right?"

She withdraws her hands slowly with a lump of pain welling up inside of her throat. A pain that's not there because of an injury. Akai tries to swallow but she can't. _How could he…? He understands me…? _It seems as if she can't find the words so create a sentence that would answer his question. The thing is; she isn't sure if she could speak without her voice wavering at the moment, so she keeps silent. _Has he been through something like this too? _

"Sorry I misjudged you dattebayo! You can really be a nice person Akai-san…Hehe!" Naruto smiles brightly through his pain.

Once again she finds herself thinking that it's hard to find the right words. But her pinkish lips turn upward as a small, weak but gentle smile. Her eyes soften and her shoulders fall down from their tense position. She relaxes and sighs. If feels as if a huge burden has vanished from her heart.

"You…you're not so bad yourself…Naruto."

Naruto grins as he notices the drop of the "-san" and he pushes himself up into a sitting position. He leans back at the tree and puts on his t-shirt carefully.

"Well I guess I'll be calling you Akai-chan from now on."

"Nani? Don't get too familiar with me …"

But she smiles.

* * *

**The **journey through the fire country took a little longer than expected but that was because of Akai´s sensitive skin. Instead of walking through a very warm place, they took a longer route around it to avoid the warm and hot atmosphere there during the day. Naruto didn't complain at all during the trip and the tension between him and Akai is gone.

"We'll be able to see the Konoha gates from that hill over there… hurry up!"

"Eh! Wait Naruto…you´re supposed to be hurt!"

"Haha...well I'm a fast healer."

She follows him and stands by his side as he regards his home land. The strong wind up there messes with her long white-ish blonde hair and the hood of her jacket flies with the breeze. Blue eyes flutter open as she decides to try taking a look at the new landscape before her. The many different shades of green mixed together plus a bright blue sky with some white spots…and there it is. A grey line in all the green; the Konoha gate. She squints when the sun gets to intense for her. She puts on her green hood and the cloth covers her sensitive skin nicely.

"C'mon Akai-chan.I can't wait to see if the others are alright."

Akai obeys and follows the blonde down the hill in a quick speed. She gets surprised by the energy Naruto shows; it's like he has an endless mass of chakra hidden inside of him somewhere. She remembers the inhuman chakra she felt the day she found him. The grass under her feet changes into gravel as they approach the open gate. The change thrills her. The voices of people invades her senses, the laugh of smiling children, the busy sound of business men working and the soft sound of singing birds. The smell of sweets lingers in the air, just as the scent of flowers and noodles. All these new sensations make Akai smile brightly; she has always wanted to go to new places.

"NARUTO you BAKA!"

The sudden high pitched voice makes the boy beside her tense before a loud bump and a groan is heard. Akai steps back confused as she understands that somebody punched Naruto on his head, hard. Slow steps inform her of that at least two more people have gathered around them.

"Ita ita itaiii da yo Sakura-chiyaaan!"

"Well you deserve it for disappearing like that! We were worried sick!"

"Welcome back Naruto." A soft male voice utters.

"Haha. We were informed about your stay in the Grass. So this is..?" Speaks a deeper masculine voice.

Akai opens her eyes slowly and looks at them. A sigh leaves her lips as she takes of her large hood so her face is visible. The girl who punched Naruto is pink haired, the shorter male has his stomach bare and the adult; probably their sensei wears the usual Jounin outfit.

Their eyes widen as they regard how the girl clad in light green clothes shows her face. Silky white hair, snow pale skin, deep misty eyes…and a very distant look.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Isozaki Akai."

* * *

**AN; did you recognise the people meeting them there? Who wouldn´t. R&R**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN; Thank you; **_Dragon of twilight, Akane101, wateranddarkness666, , Cerulean89, Kitai Kudai & anonymous _**for the reviews on chapter three! I asked for two and I got seven, that made me really thrilled! **

**Enjoy chapter four!

* * *

****The **feeling of being totally watched invades Akai´s senses as the silence between her and the Konoha shinobi gets too long for her liking. Things like this does always happen when she meets new people; they stop and stare like she's some kind of freak. Akai, who's used to this reaction, puts up her cold and sarcastic shield as a defence. But the pink haired girl's quick words makes Akai keep her insults for herself a little longer.

"…Nice… to meet you! I´m…Haruno Sakura."

You could have been fooled by that sweet and soft voice of hers but the hesitations and wavering are two signs which shows that the girl who spoke them doesn't like the situation. Like she's thinking of how she would treat Akai so she won't get insulted or get the wrong idea. Akai is quick to understand this Sakura; she's a nice person within but also very superficial.

"I'm Yamato, these kids current Sensei."

His voice tells her that the man behind the words is about twenty-five to thirty years old and is one of those characters that speak proper Japanese. He's polite and no signs of judging in his voice. Akai believes that Yamato must have seen people looking much odder than herself during his years as a shinobi.

"I'm Sai. It's nice to meet you…."

Akai turns her gaze to the young man called Sai when his tone tells her that he's not finished with his presentation. Like as if he's searching for the right word. But before he's able to speak does Naruto and the girl called Sakura interrupt as if they all are in a rush. Sai´s muffled voice tells Akai that someone has put their hand to keep his mouth shut. The whitish blonde girl shrugs her shoulders at the situation, but her thoughts linger a little at Sai´s emotionless choice of voice.

"Anyway…" Akai speaks rather coldly turning to look at Naruto. " Naruto you're hurt and needs to go to the hospital, and I need to see the Hokage. "

"You're also hurt, Akai-chan." Naruto complains pointing at her slightly swollen cheek.

"It's not a big deal." Akai smirks. "My condition makes any injury look more serious than it is, so don't worry."

What Akai means it that her albinism, her lack of pigment in her skin, doesn't cover bruises, as normal skin would do. Her bleedings beneath her skin are much more visible and therefore looks more severe than they really are.

"I'm a medic so I can take care of Naruto. Yamoto-sensei, why don't you guideher to the Hokage tower since you also needed to see Tsunade-sama?" Sakura interrupts.

Akai tenses. Sakura´s whole voice and body languish tells her that she want to get away from here as fast as possible. Get away from this tense situation; get away from Akai. Sakura is just putting her own trouble at her sensei´s shoulders. Akai´s chest tighten and this time does nothing stop her from acting coldly.

"I _didn't_ say that I needed **a guide**; I can find the way there by my own…_Thanks._"

Sakura notices the rudeness in Akai´s tone and her green eyes narrow a fraction.

"I'm sorry to say this, but we don't allow foreign shinobi to walk down the streets of Konoha by themselves. " Yamato interrupts wisely, before the argument could grow troublesome. "I'll take you there Isozaki-san."

Akai tenses once more. Naruto´s blue eyes turn to her. This time she detects coldness from the older man. He's telling her that he doesn't trust her yet; that she's not one of them and can't walk by her own because she might be a threat to the village. _This Yamato is pretty bright… _She understands his motives and nods as a sign that she agrees. Naruto sighs loudly. Now that he has come to understand Akai a little, he understood that she was just about insulting them for their way of treating her. But Yamato, who treated her as he would treat any shinobi, calmed her down. He gives her the respect she wants.

"Well then, let's head toward the hospital Naruto!" Chants Sakura while pulling his sleeve.

Naruto looks at Sakura for a moment before giving Akai a big smile and thumps up. Akai who for once saw that small detail gets surprised, but answers slowly with a hesitant smile. The blonde follows his female team mate and Sai isn't far behind.

"Mata ne, Akai-chan!"

_If it wasn't for Naruto…this whole damn trip would be so bothersome… _Akai can't help but smile as she and Yamato walks in the opposite direction. She gets the feeling of that Naruto will be her source of light here, source of calmness and happiness in a place where she doesn't really belong. It isn't often Akai gets new friends but when she do; she knows that their bond will last for a long time.

* * *

**Isozaki Akai **has learnt that showing nervousness is a sign of weakness so the teen does her best in hiding her raging uneasiness in the waiting room outside the Hokage´s office. Rumours about the first female Hokage has always been going around in the village hidden in the Grass and some of them make Akai worried. She's well aware of the rumours can vary between true, false and even more false. Akai decides that thinking about it too much will do her no good so she turns her gaze toward two men who also are waiting for the Hokage. The girl who's suffering from Albinism is glad that her hood covers a large part of her face as she notices that both of them are glancing her way. She's not ashamed over the fact that she's an albino but the stares can sometimes get too much for her.

The door suddenly opens and a woman dressed in a neat black dress stands in the door way with something looking just like a pig in her arms. Akai frowns as she concentrates to see clearly; is it really a pig? But Yamato pats her on the arm as a sign that it's her turn to meet the leader of Konoha. Akai nods in silence and takes of her hood; exposing her pale face, before walking over to the shady figure of the woman.

"You must be Isozaki Akai, I presume?"

"Hai."

The woman leads Akai further into the room and judging by the small echo that's created by their steps tells her that it's either a pretty large room or a small room with no furniture. The tickling scent of sake, Japanese rice wine, lingers in the air and the sound of a ticking clock makes Akai feel a little stressed. Her pair of misty blue eyes turns to look at the outlines of the woman sitting in front of her. Akai bows respectfully.

"I'm Isozaki Akai and I'm here to report about the incident that occurred in Grass."

"You came here alone?" A sweet yet very powerful voice speaks.

"Yes." _Remember…this is the Hokage... I need to be polite…yuck! _

"I know that you have at least one more reason for coming this far. Let's speak about that since I have already gotten the report from your county's Leader. So…speak."

Akai notices how the woman doesn't want to speak about what happened, but she's in no position to ask why. So she looks up once again fixing her gaze at what she believes is the Hokage´s eyes and start explaining the greater problem she came here to solve.

"During many years, Grass and its villages have been used as battlefields for foreign troops. Our bamboo forest has been destroyed over and over again by fights that often don't concern the Grass at all! Konoha is one of these troops…"

Akai takes a break to really look at the Hokage. The woman doesn't seem to laugh at her or her village so she continues in a steady voice.

"We know that Konoha came to our aid when Earth invaded our borders but the situation hasn't improved since then. And now, you fought inside of Grass without permission creating danger for our village as well as yours. Leader-sama wants to bring an end to these battles but…"

"But what?"

"The fact that Uchiha Sasuke and Orochimaru were seen close to our village's border creates uneasiness far greater than back then. Leader-sama wants to create an alliance with Konoha, since we share the same enemy, so Grass will be more secure if he returns. Our village is tired of be used and wants to join forces once again with Konoha to bring down Sound."

"You're asking for back up from Konoha? But what do we gain out of this new alliance? Grass is not one of the skilled shinobi countries and how would you be able to help?"

Akai stands there in silence for some seconds. The Hogake did just, kind of, insult Grass. The snapping sound of the Hokage pulling her fingers out of their sockets echo between the walls and Akai frowns deeply fighting with herself. But she decides to voice her thoughts at last.

"Don't _underestimate_ my homeland. We **might** not be as _skilled_ as Konoha shinobi but we're growing steadily. Our forest can be used to build weapons, our vary landscape and the mountains are great for ambush…there are loads of things that can be used to your advantage. You'll get some faithful warriors under your service if we get the protection we need."

"Akai-san, you don't like to be underestimated."

Akai´s eyes narrow at the true statement. Something in that voice of hers tells Akai that the Hogake tested her. Tsunade chuckles.

"Konoha has been allied with Grass before so the idea isn't bad…Shall I gather the advisors to a meeting about the subject, Tsunade-sama?" The girl who greeted Akai in the doorway suggests.

"Do so Shizune. Akai-san, things like this will take a while so, you'll be stuck here. Get used to our village and our ways to live, there_ will_ be** eyes** _watching_ you. I'll inform your leader about this."

Akai bows once again respectfully.

"Hai, understood."

* * *

**So **she ends up staying at a cheap hotel in the not so nice parts of Konoha. But Akai doesn't complaining since she can't see the details that most people would regard as disgusting. Like the small cracks in the roof, the small leak in the kitchen and some unwanted insects near the window. But she isn't able to see them and therefore she won't complain. Even though the rhythmic sound of water hitting the floor in the kitchen tell her that this apartment / room surely is low-priced.

"If you need anything just call for my dad. And by the way, you've to pay to get warm water when using the shower… "

A young woman, about the same age as Akai, stands in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest, her oval glasses balancing on the edge of her nose. Her long, straight dark hair frames her face even thou it's pulled up into a high ponytail. She's dressed in a too big t-shirt for her frail body and a pair of worn-out shorts that reach her knees, a pair of flip-flop shoes keeps her feet clean from the dirt and dust on the ground.

Akai gets the feeling that this girl wants to be anywhere but here and it's not because of her and her albinism. Her low and bored tone makes Akai believe that this job is something that her dad, the housekeeper, forced her to do.

"And avoid flushing the toilet more then once per hour. The neighbours might complain otherwise; these walls are not soundproof. Well I'll get back to my studying, see you around then."

"Bye."

Akai hears how some cracks in the roof falls down to the floor when the girl closes the door. The blonde sigh and heads over to the worn-out bed in the west corner of the room. She takes of her backpack and starts to unpack it sitting on those old sheets. _Remember this; change sheets before going to bed tonight…

* * *

_**The **sun is slowly raising at the horizon and the weak beams reaches Akai´s face through the window. The low sound of the birds early chanting can be heard through the non soundproof walls and the noise forces Akai to get up. A deep groan leaves her lips as she forces her tired limbs to move. She curses mentally at the insects that don't stop bothering her by landing on her face. _Damn creatures…Watch it or I'll crush you! Grr…. _But all she does is waving her hand at it, not close to the finishing blow that she is imagining in her head at the moment.

When Akai is up and dressed she decides to explore Konoha to get an overall picture of the village in her head. It's still very early so Akai doubts that she'll meet troublesome people during her walk. Leaving her room behind her she walks down the stairs carefully with her hand on the wall as support in case she would miss one step and fall. She's greeted by the smell of coffee when she at last reaches to bottom floor. The girl who helped her to her room yesterday sits behind a cupboard reading a journal while sipping at the caffeine drink. _It's like this girl runs this place instead of her father…_

"Good morning." Akai greets politely.

"Mornin´ " Is the lazy answer.

Akai hands her the key and she puts it away in one of the small boxes behind her with the correct number on it. No more words are spoken between the two teens and Akai turns to leave in silence. The bell that's hanging close to the door rings as she steps out of the hotel building and cold, but fresh air hits her in the face. Enjoying the feeling, she starts to walk down the street toward what she knows must be the centre of Konoha. Akai´s lone steps gives away sounds as the small stones gives in under her feet, and she now knows that she's alone. Opening her eyes slightly she regards the misty pink/orange sky in the distance and how dark shady walls towers up on both of her sides. She squints to see better and believes that there are some small stores all around her. Like a flower shop, a small restaurant, an animal shop and much more. The sweet smell of sugar in the air tells her that someone is up early to bake bread and all kinds of bonbon. A loud grumbling sound breaks the silence and a small blush grows on her cheeks. _I'm hungry… _

And luckily, she finds a nice place that has just opened for the day and orders a large plate of rice and fried chicken, together with a hot curry sauce. She pulls apart her chopsticks and chants _Itadakimasu _before enjoying the meal. It doesn't take long before a couple of customers enter and shares the warmth with Akai. She doesn't care at first but the calmness gets disturbed by their loud discussion that she is able to hear clearly since they choose the table behind her. Something about the sudden silence makes Akai believe that they've seen her, she tenses but nothing gets said and the moments passes. But she feels how their eyes are fixed on her back is if they're inspecting her.

What Akai doesn't see is that the group of four ninja is looking at her discreetly with different expressions on their faces. A blonde, blue eyed girl seems to be checking her out in a non romantic way and she pouts with one of her brows in the air with a quizzically look. Like she doesn't know if to like or hate Akai´s way to look and dress. A young man with his black hair pulled up into a high, short ponytail regards Akai in silence thinking deeply, he turns to his sensei but the older man nods as if he's saying that the girl isn't a threat. They nod toward each other and return their focus on the menu. The last member isn't paying any attention to Akai at all as he's drooling over the menu. Akai, who has finished her meal, pays the bill and walks toward the exit when a female voice interrupts her thoughts.

"Hey. I've not seen you around before..."

Akai glances over her shoulder at the direction of the voice and she notices the way the girl stops talking when their eyes meet. But she continues when the chock fades slowly.

"So who are you and where you from?"

Akai isn't late to notice the tone this girl is using. A voice that tells much more than ordinary people would notice. She's inspecting Akai believing that she's someone who shouldn't be here. One of the young men tries to stop the girl from saying anything more but she ignores his advice as if it doesn't matter at all. The boy with the ponytail sighs loudly and the older shakes his head and is about to say something but the girl interrupts him.

"You're not from this village; state your business in Konoha." She adds.

"Who I am and where I came from it's none you business. And when asking for someone's name it's more polite to tell your own first. All you have to know about me is that I'm here on a mission. Now, I'm out of here…" Akai starts but she adds. "And one more thing, I don't like they way you're looking at me."

"Isozaki-san."

Akai stops in the doorway as the man called out her name. Her blue eyes narrowed.

"Asuma-sensei, you know of this girl?" The girl asks in a loud tone.

The man nods toward the girl he turns his eyes to Akai who has turned around and is looking at him with those blue misty eyes.

"We were told to keep an eye on you during your first days in Konoha. So why don't you join us? That would make our mission much easier."

"So this is the person Hokage-sama mentioned." The guy with the ponytail states. "The one from Grass."

"My name is Isozaki Akai. And yes I'll join you if that's your Hokage´s orders."

Akai forces herself to smile. She knows that disobeying the orders of a ninja of the village you're staying at can lead to much trouble so it's best to follow the flow. The whole satiation makes her tense and irritated, but she sits down next to the girl who she doesn't like at all at the moment. _I'm just like a prisoner…forced to hang out with people like this… so irritating! _

"I'm Asuma, and my pupils are called Yamanaka Ino, Akamichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru. Together we're team 10."

"It's nice to meet you." _I guess I've to behave when I'm speaking with them…since this Asuma seems to be a Jounin. _

"Why didn't anyone tell me about the mission?" Ino complains. "I didn't know about it at all!"

"Well when we were about to, you said that it wasn't necessary." Her sensei answers.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru grins at Ino a little teasingly and she frowns.

"Let's order more BBQ!" Chouji suggests. "Friendship begins with a nice meal!"

Akai can't help but feel weird in the presence of the Konoha shinobi. She keeps quiet and listens to their conversation and answers the questions they ask her. Something about being forces to hang out with them might be a good thing but on the other side; it's not fun to be with people who probably judges her by her appearance. For the first time Akai confesses that she miss her home, miss her old team and family. She didn't know that leaving the protection of the village would be like this. She wanted to be free but is this really freedom? But Akai was the one who choose to leave so she'll have to face the consequences.

* * *

**She **quick to understand that hanging out with team 10 means that they'll spend at least two hours at the restaurant before deciding what to do next. And today, training is on the schedule and Akai is invited, and agrees hesitantly. It's a great opportunity to see what the Konoha ninja are capable of and at the same time training her body and soul. For the first time that day someone suggested something she might enjoy. They walk slowly through the village toward a small park in the middle of the town that Akai believes is team 10´s own training area.

"Isozaki-san, I know about your handicap so it's up to you to decide if you want to train with us or just watch."

Asuma-sensei´s voice is clear and polite and Akai understands that he doesn't mean to insult her by underestimating her in anyway. He's just saying that she herself can judge what she can do and can't do. She chose to ignore his choice of words , _"Watch"_ is something she can't really do, since she doesn't want to get in Asuma´s bad books.

"I'll fight."

"What about a spar match..."

"Against me." Ino interrupts.

"That sounds great." Akai answers with a grin on her face. _Here is my chance to prove myself, excellent. _

Shikamaru who notices the both girl's expressions sighs but grins after a while. He sits down beside Chouji in the grass and keeps his eyes on the two kunoichi in front of him. Asuma does the same and tells them that they have fifteen minuets to warm up before the spar will begin. Asuma looks down at Shikamaru and Chouji, shaking his head.

"Guys…"

"What a drag…" Murmurs Shikamaru.

And they're of to do their own training. Akai starts her warm up by jogging around the park to get a better view on the landscape before the battle. It wouldn't be nice if she accidentally tripped on some roots, right? When the albino girl is content she starts practicing some falls from low and high places so she won't get hurt if she needs to throw herself out of Ino´s reach later. When Akai feels that sweat is starting to emerge from her skin she starts calming down once again to not over do it; she doesn't want to be tired when it's time to fight.

"Girls get ready…You fight till one of you surrenders or until I end the battle. You'll only use punches, kicks and weapons so no ninja techniques."

"Why?" Asks Ino.

"See this as training for the body; your physical strength. When you're not relying on your bloodline or family techniques you'll bring out a deeper strength; work on your condition. You need to train both to become a great shinobi but let's take them one to begin with."

"Hai, understood."

"So let the battle begin!"

* * *

**Ino** is the first to react after Asuma´s declaration. She hurries to take forth a couple of shuriken and throws them at Akai while she dashes of toward her. Akai, who notices the attack by the swishing sounds, evades them just in time. The quick and light footsteps that approaches Akai tells her Ino´s accurate position but also that Ino doesn't weight much and because of that, she's fast in her movements instead of possessing a greater physical ability. _Anyway...let's stick to that theory for now. _

Akai prepares herself by taking forth her loyal Bo-staff and awaits Ino´s attack. The albino closes her eyes and focuses on those steps that she can clearly hear and is "seeing" her opponent using her other senses. The blonde Konoha shinobi aims a punch to Akai´s stomach and the sound that leaves her lips as she does so tells her precise location. The grass Shinobi, who's not as quick as Ino, manages to step aside but fail to grab her wrist and counter. Ino´s punch misses its target and she continues running for some mere seconds before she's able to bring her body into a halt.

Clear blue eyes meets a pair of misty ones in a heated glare before Ino charges once again; screaming with her fist in the air. Akai decides to meet the attack this time and hurries to run toward the sound of Ino with her staff ready. The punch hits her chin slightly but Akai, who possibly is the stronger of them, lowers herself and hits Ino´s knees from behind so she loses her balance for a second. But she somehow manages to stay on her feet.

"Isozaki is aiming for Ino´s weak spots…" Shikamaru Murmur. "But Ino´s speed gives her an advantage…"

"That's not right. Both are close to equal but they're both good at different things. The outcome of this spar is still not clear for me." Asuma answers while pondering. "I had no idea that Isozaki-san could fight like this."

"Go Ino! You can take that girl down!" Chants Chouji while chewing on his last potato chips.

Akai decides that it's her time to attack creates a distance between her and Ino before she starts using her staff as a shield as she once again approaches Ino. The wooden weapon spins quickly in the palm of her hands and she charges aiming at Ino´s stomach, legs and shoulders. The Konoha ninja who is standing in a defence position receives the punches but make them hit different areas with more protection than the one Akai aimed for. She frowns deeply when the situation gets too hard for her to handle; she needs to get away from the staff! Akai senses her discomfort and uses it wisely. She stops hitting Ino for a moment only to lower herself and hitting her feet so she falls to the ground with a loud bump. Akai is quick to point her staff, as a sword, at Ino´s neck as an ending of their spar. If this was a real battle Ino would be lifeless.

"End of battle! Nice done girls." Asuma interrupts the battle.

Ino gets up from the ground with a pissed expression on her face.

"You didn't need to play with me like that!"

"What?"

"You fought with closed eyes! I may not be as good as you but you didn't have to make me look that bad."

Akai opens her eyes as if she wasn't aware of that she had closed them in the first place. Her vision becomes blurry as she starts seeing with her eyes instead of her hearing. Asuma interrupts once again and explains to Ino that Akai´s eyes are not as good as they should be. That her albinism has affected her sight and that she's almost completely blind.

"I thought you knew about my handicap."

"Well it's easy to see what's wrong with you judging by your looks but I had no idea that you're blind!"

"_What's __**wrong**_ with me, you said?" Akai snaps angrily. _I'm starting to hate this girl…_

"I don't mean it like that!" Ino is quick to defend herself.

"Hey girls calm down! This was supposed to be a friendly match."

"Yeah let's go and eat, forget about this, ok?" Chouji states.

"Do you think food can solve this, heh?" Akai snaps. "Ok, Ino. Let's put this behind us and start over. And this time; don't judge me on forehand."

Akai offers the blonde Konoha kunoichi her hand and Ino takes it. But no feeling is in that promise; more that they will avoid hanging out any further. Take it easy and see what it takes them. Akai is well aware of that Ino sends her strange glances and that something like a closer friendship will not be formed. But knowing that getting enemies is not a good thing Akai forces herself to act composed. Sometimes doing what's best for you can be a pain in the ass.

"Anyway, I need to head back to my hotel. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Shikamaru answers with a nod.

Nara Shikamaru, a guy who seems to be lazy as hell, is the one in team 10 Akai feels that she could enjoy hanging out with. He doesn't seem to care about her appearance, or actually, he doesn't seem to care about much. Akai smiles.

"See you around." Asuma says with a small smile.

Ino and Chouji says good bye, one ignorantly and the other is too busy with eating to really say it properly. Akai´s smile fades a little but she just turns around and heads in the opposite direction who she remembers as the right way toward the centre of Konoha. She doesn't need to head back, it was just a small white lie, Akai just doesn't want to stay in that tense situation anymore. There is about two hours left till the hotel´s front door closes for the night to be honest and Akai has no clue what to do until then.

* * *

**She **ends up walking once again like she did before her exploring was interrupted by hunger and then Asuma and Co. Her limbs takes her further away from the streets she has gotten used to during the day and into a more open landscape with mansions instead of small apartments. The atmosphere around here is much nicer and calmer than where she's living. The sound of a river catches her interest and Akai follows the sound slowly with her mind open. She arrives and finds herself surrounded by large trees, probably sakura trees, on a bridge over the wild river. Akai leans over the fence as she focuses on her hearing to get an inner view of the place, so she will remember it and be able to return whenever she would like. Places like these don't exist in Grass. There are nearly no rivers, only lakes, and the climate and soil are too cold for sakura seeds to grow in. Konoha is very exotic in her opinion, a very warm and beautiful village. She's lucky that her albinism allows her to be here, some more degrees or a brighter sun and she would suffer instead.

Akai decides to continue walking, crossing the bridge, and the much softer grass under her feet tells her that the road has turned into a field. The long grass strands tickle her skin through her fishnet tights and she makes sure she takes big steps in case some snakes would hide in the bushes close to her.

Akai shivers suddenly out of nowhere and the eerie but also familiar feeling strikes her hard. Turning around quickly she is greeted buy the eyes of a couple of shinobi that crosses the bridge and one of those pairs catches her interest. Their eyes meet for a second but it feels like an eternity. Looking at the outlines of somebody that she believes can see even more than the average, with a pair of eyes that can barely see the ground below their wielder makes her feel naked, like he's looking into her soul without her permission. The man who doesn't seem to notice the way his gaze affects Akai turns away as another beside him starts talking. The group of men walks away from Akai but she can feel their gazes on her, all their gazes except the pair of eyes she looked into some seconds ago. Akai squints to get a better view of them but all she can see is white and beige clothing and long dark hair.

…_Who was that?

* * *

_**AN; Thank you for reading this far! **

**R&R **

**Have a nice summer.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN; Enjoy!

* * *

****The** sun is long gone and the dark sky's only source of light is the bright stars and full moon. The quite chilly wind, compared to the one earlier that day, travels gracefully and creates a whirl of leaves and dust that's fades without being noticed in the darkness. You can hear the low sound of an owl howling somewhere in the forest outside Konoha´s large fence. The bird leaves its branch and the sound of moving wings interrupts the calm and comfortable silence.

A young girl, around the age of 18, walks through the gates. Her white hair stands out in the darkness, creating a third light in the blackness of the night. Red eyes snap open as the white feathered bird flies past her like a ghost or phantom. Akai sighs wishing that she was able to regard the animal, but its not possible. Long, white eyelashes moves as she closes her eyes again. Her thoughts is still on the fight she fought against Ino, on her friend Naruto and the unknown man who passed her by a couple of hours ago, at the time when she still was able to feel the warmth of the sun on her sensitive skin. Her shoulders twitches as a shiver runs down her spine. Akai can still picture his silver eyes inside her mind, a pair of eyes that she believes saw right through her at those seconds they were on her.

Eyes has always been on her, seeing her as the freak the world mostly sees her as but he, didn't look down on her. Being watched is something everyone probably would feel uncomfortable about and Akai hates it. But a strange feeling entered her during those seconds her eyes were connected with the man's silver ones. She can´t put her finger on the feeling but is sure about that it was something different about it, something strange and unfamiliar to her. Akai frowns when she notices that her hair on her arms is standing straight up. _I didn't know it could get this cold in Konoha..._

Akai decides that it´s best to end her trip for the day and head back to her hotel. She hides her face in the cloth of her hood as the streets around her gets more crowded_. The nightlife here seems to be rather busy..._ Her blue misty eyes glance to her right at a man that seems to be really drunk and the light from one of the small torches makes the colour change to ruby red for a second. The night is when she and others only can see darkness, why does she believe that her darkness is darker and more hollow than everyone else´s. When she's unable to see the world around her, she wonders if the world is able to see her. She knows that they see _"her",_ but is there anyone out there that will see her?

_What did that man think when he saw me?..._ _Why do I can thinking about it!? What he and the others thinks is none of my business!..._

Her hood nearly falls off when she shakes her head to get rid of her thoughts. Akai turns right and disappears into the darkness created by the high walls around her. The buildings start to get more simple and torn and she arrives at her hotel just in time. The girl that works in the reception is standing at the stairs with a bunch of keys in her hand, ready to lock the entrance. Akai doesn't have to utter a word since the darkhaired girl already noticed her.

"You're pretty late." She complains.

"Yeah, but not _too_ late." Akai counters.

The sound of metal colliding with metal as she searches after the right key invades Akai´s senses. Low sounds as when the small tool enters the keyhole and switches the small triggers is easy detected by her sharp hearing. Her senses are focused on the girl and she ponders over that fact that she doesn't know who she is, or why she works at the hotel when she clearly doesn't want to. _It's not something I would ask but... It can´t hurt right?_

"What's your name?" She asks but adds "I've already told you mine." When she notices that her sentence would sound very ´_out of the blue´ _ifshe didn't.

The girl opens the door and steps aside to let Akai enter.

"I'm Shirakawa Kumori." A uncomfortable silence grows but she adds quickly, is if she's in a hurry; "You know where the keys are right? Is it ok if you fetch yours by yourself, I need to head home..."

"Sure."

"Well then, good night."

"Oya sumi nasai."

Akai enters the building fully and Kumori locks the door behind her back firmly, she pulls the door handle to check that it's closed and leaves with quick steps. Akai leans against the wall and listens to how the snapping sound of the girl´s flip-flops fades as she disappears. Her blue eyes open as she thinks back on their conversation; a smile graces her lips as she understands that this girl, Shirakawa Kumori, doesn't underestimate her. Her smile fades. _Okay...finding the keys will be simple, a piece of a cake, but finding the right one...that can become a problem.

* * *

_**Akai **sighs.

"Troublesome...I told you Ino, that I had to attend."

"Yeah but you know, you promised. You could at least have told me about when it would end. I waited for an hour."

"I've already said it; sorry...oh man... " Shikamaru falls silent. _How troublesome..._

She's once again stuck with team 10 at the same restaurant as yesterday. Their sensei, Asuma appeared out of nowhere when she was walking down the street and suggested that he would buy her breakfast. She was quick to understand the hidden purpose behind that act and agreed to not create any complications. It´s logical that Team 10 still are keeping an eye on her, but she still feels like a prisoner in their company.

"You shouldn't treat her like that Shikamaru.." Chouji murmurs with his mouth full of pork.

Akai enjoys her ramen in silence.

"Do you like Konoha so far?" Asks Asuma, to break her silence.

"Sure. It's nice."

"What's different here compared to your hometown?"

"It's bigger here, Well and the climate is slightly different, it's a little warmer. And the landscapes are rougher... but nothing else."

"I bet that the guys in Grass are much hotter and nicer than the guys over here. Am I right Akai-san?" Ino ask in an irritated tone, glaring at Shikamaru. She clearly wants that Akai stands on her side in the quarrel with Shikamaru. It´s like she suddenly wants her to join the conversation, but Akai shrugs it off.

"Boys are boys, the village doesn't matter. They only think of how to get stronger and the best way to reach their goals."

This makes Ino turn her eyes to Akai instead of Shikamaru. He sighs and runs his fingers through his ponytail; feeling relieved that his female team mate has found someone else to bother for the moment.

"I guess you've a bad experience with boys?"

"I didn't say that."

"Do you've a boyfriend?"

"No."

"Do you've a crush on somebody?"

"...Eh...no?"

"Does somebody has a crush on you?"

"How would I know that!?"

"Strange, a girl with your kind of hair shouldn't have any problems." Ino murmurs to herself pondering.

Akai can't help but look at Ino with a large question mark on her forehead. The girl who said she looked weird yesterday compliments her hair. She decides to shrug it off with a small wave of her hand, continuing to eat her morning meal. Akai cant help but wonder why the blond Konoha ninja has changed her view on her, or if she's just trying to gain her trust to get an advantage of her?

"Eh...I guess...thank you?" She answers hesitantly.

Ino notices Akai´s insecurity and distrust so she continues to make her point clearer for the Grass ninja. She understands quickly that Akai isn´t a person who trust you quickly.

"By the way, sorry for the way I acted last time. I thought you underestimated me when we fought... I honestly didn't know about your condition that well. So...I'm sorry."

Akai stays silent and notices the way the three men around the table inspects her and Ino with tense expressions. She sighs deeply pondering over how to answer the girl while thinking about that it's not that easy to change. _This girl can be a bitch if you get in her bad book, maybe I should try to befriend her...But my first impression of her wasn't pretty... But everyone deserves a second chance. _

"...Like I said yesterday, lets start over again." Akai answers calmly. _I wonder if I'm going to regret this later?_ Akai adds; "I've to apologise too. Sorry if I offended you in anyway."

The tense aura around them fades and Akai feels how Asuma, who's sitting next to her, sighs in relief. It feels good somehow, to have cleared up a misunderstanding and be able to start over again. But Akai also knows that the difference between her and Ino is great, if you look at their personality, likes and dislikes, so it might be hard to get close to her and form a real friendship. But everything is a start on something new. She smiles.

"Great, now when that's solved; what's on our schedule today Asuma-sensei?" Asks Shikamaru with a grin on his lips.

"Sorry but I can't train with you guys today. I'm thinking of visiting Naruto at the hospital. And head to the Hokage tower after that." Akai interupts.

"I can't stay either. My mom wants me to work in the flower shop today." Ino explains. "Again..."

"Well then, I guess this well be one of those few all guy battles." Asuma starts. "Akai feel free to join us another day."

"Sure." _I guess I can't say no to that. I believe he would kidnap me like this easy if he wanted to. _Her point is that she knows they've to keep an eye on her and that Asuma easily could force her to stay. _Haha free breakfast is always a good start! _

_Maybe the people in Konoha isn't as bad as I thirst thought...

* * *

_**White** walls surround Akai from every direction as she walks down a long corridor in silence. Her steps echo between the walls and the sound waves flies everywhere and gives her a clear picture over where she is and who passes her by. It's very easy for her to _"see" _in buildings and places like this.

Haruno Sakura, who's showing her the way, walks in silence and Akai knows that the young nurse feels uncomfortable in her company, just like when they first met. Akai glances at the kunoichi´s back noticing her tense composure. The pink haired girl is thinking that if she doesn't get involved with her it will be no hard feelings, mistakes and misunderstandings. Akai is aware of that and won't do anything to get closer to the girl. She sighs.

"Here we are. Just take the second door to the left."

Sakura stops walking and pushes up a door to her right that's leading into another corridor. Akai nods in silence as a thank you before doing as she been told. The sound of the door closing behind her tells Akai that she's alone again, she knocks on the second door and enters slowly.

"Haiiii! Come in."

"Konnichiwa Naruto."

"Akai-chan! I never thought that someone other than Sakura-chan would visit me. Thanks." He tells her with traces of sadness in his voice.

"I was just passing by..." _not really..._ "How are you?"

Akai finds a chair after a while and sits down next to Naruto´s hospital bed, crossing one leg over the other in a comfortable position. It feels really nice to talk with someone she knows accepts her for the person she is. But she's aware of that Naruto is down, probably thinking about his failed mission to bring back a certain Uchiha Sasuke. She can still remember the powerful feeling that emerged from that man, the strength he possesses and the cold stare.

"I'm fine...I don't know why they still keep me here!"

"I guess all hospitals are the same."

"Ah right! Your mother, Akane-san, works at a hospital. I almost forgot."

_Mother. _Akai flinches a little by that.

"Do you miss them? When are you going home?"

"I do miss them...and I don't know. I'm heading for the Hokage office after this to, hopefully, find out."

"I just have to take you to my favourite ramen restaurant before you go. As a thank you for saving me in the forest back then."

"That's a promise then." She nods. " I've to go now. Sorry for the short visit..."

"It's ok. "

Naruto smiles gently in a grateful way. He's happy that Akai came and that she wanted to talk to him, he feels that their friendship will become very important for him later on.

"Take care."

"You too."

* * *

**Akai **frowns with irritation as Shizune opens the door to the Hokage office and let's someone else than her enter, once again. She has been sitting in the waiting room for an hour and is starting to get really tired of waiting. _Sure the Hokage is busy but... gah!_ The woman smiles and nods in Akai´s direction telling her that she sees her irritation.

"Shizune-san, is it possible to come over tomorrow at an other time?"

"You're too impatient, Tsunade-sama will greet you anytime now."

Akai sigh loudly and nods. The woman disappears once again behind that closed door. The blonde albino believes that something very important is being discussed inside of that room, or she hopes so since she doesn't want to wait when it wasn't really necessary. The sudden need to go to the toilet grabs her and she walks of down the corridor in the right direction, that she remembers from her first visit in the tower.

Loud voices, curses and groans makes her open her eyes to squint in front of her. She's able to notice the outlines of a couple of people down the corridor, two men keeping the third one captive. The third person struggles, swears and tries to hurt the ones that holds him as a prisoner. Akai closes her eyes and continues on toward the toilet, judging that the two men can handle the criminal by themselves. Then she notices the familiar pair of eyes on her, the same feeling from yesterday invades her body and sends a shiver down her spine.

But she doesn't have anytime to open her eyes for the second time to look at the guy because the criminal somehow breaks loose from the Konoha shinobi´s grip and dashes in her direction quickly.

"Watch up!" Shouts one of the Konoha ninja.

"Get out of my way!!!" The criminal roars dangerously.

The man runs toward her quickly and his heavy steps tells her about his size and weight. _He's huge!_ Akai feels how her heart stop beating as adrenaline stars moving through her veins. She has no thought of running away. When you're scared, really scared, something weird happens with your body. It grows cold and tense, your hear starts beating rapidly, your breathing becomes uneven and your body can react a little differently. It's our nature to run from our fears but the fear itself can also make you face it. Akai reacts, without her wanting to, by position herself in her fighting pose as the man approaches her.

"You over there move!" Shouts the same man again.

But her ears are only focused on the tapping echoes of the mans footsteps. When she doesn't move out of his way, he raises his arm to punch her. But his clenched fist hits air as she evades the attach by turning around, out of his reach. Akai reacts quickly and grabs the mans fist, pulls it forward so he keeps running and uses his own speed to take away his balance so he starts to fall. In a spinning motion, she pulls his arm against his chest, bends his hand till he yells out in pain, gives up under the pressure and falls to the ground just to get away from the pain. Bending his arm she turns him over to his stomach and secure him by bending his hand further. The man moans in pain while he tries to get up.

"What the hell!? I'm gonna kill you, let go of me!"

Akai doesn't have to do anything more as the two shinobi reaches the man. They grabs him forcefully and pulls him away from her. The grass ninja breathes quickly as she finally understands what she has done. The adrenaline makes her hands shake uncontrollably, she hides them inside of her long sleeves. She´s lucky that it was a mere criminal and not a shinobi.

"Calm down! This is only going to make your situation here worse!" One of the men informs the criminal.

Akai opens her eyes slowly and regards how the man handles the criminal, she sighs. Everything is so blurry but her whole body tenses when she notices that familiar long dark hair, and those white clothes. The same pair of silver eyes look at her and sends a shiver down her already sweaty spine. _It's him again..._

"Are you alright?" He asks her in a neutral voice.

"Yeah."

The man with the all seeing eyes gives her one last glance before returning to his comrade. Akai leans against the wall and tries to calm down her racing heart while following the two men with her eyes as they walks toward the Hokage´s office. _Shit... I didn't know my body could react that way... what a shock. _She can't deny that the suddenness of the situation scared the life out of her. Her hands doesn't stop shaking and she feels that she has never needed a toilet as much as now.

* * *

**She´s once** again sitting out side the office waiting for her turn to speak with the Hokage. Her impatience fades as she now knows the reason behind the meeting in the room. _That man must have done something horrible..._ Akai massages her sore arm after her counter attack. His weight and size made her limbs turn sore, she overdid it, and wonders how long it will take before the soreness will fade.

"Isozaki Akai, you can enter." Shizuka addresses her in a calm voice.

"Finally." She answers in a tired voice.

She enters slowly behind Shizuka and bows respectfully toward the Hokage. Her senses picks up the sounds of the angry, overweight man that is being held captive a little further away from here. The slow and controlled breath of the two males who she met earlier tells her their position in the other side of the room. A couple of other shinobi has entered and all are alert in case something would happen. She raises her head from the bow and opens her eyes.

"Isozaki Akai, I've no time to discuss the matters you came here to talk about today. I'm sure you know the reason why."

"....Hai, Hokage-sama." _My two hours of waiting...all in vain. _

The fifty year old woman sighs tiredly and grabs her cup of coffee. She sips on it before continuing.

"I´ll send someone for you when everything is ready. Now, you've to excuse us, we have a lot to discuss."

Akai frowns. She has waited her for at least two hours, was attacked by a man and now when it's her turn she doesn't get to talk. She clenches her fist, wincing when her sore wrist starts to ache. She helped the two Konoha ninja to catch the criminal, but where is the _thank you_ she wants? A really deep sigh leaves her lips as she tries to calm herself down, trying to keep herself from being impolite to the leader of Konoha. Tsunade notices this and smirks at the girl.

"Then...I´ll take my leave. " Akai states in a composed voice, with small traces of anger.

"I believe team 10 are still at it, you've have my permission to join them in their training. See you later."

"Sayonara."

Akai bows respectfully to the woman, turns and does the same toward the two men that's holding the criminal. Thanking them silently. _Is he looking? _She can't help but wonder. Akai has never been interested by it before but something about that dark haired man's eyes has changed it. But when she looks at them again his eyes isn't on her. A small feeling of disappointment invades her senses, but she shakes it of and walks out of the room. _Why would he look at me?_

The man has caught her interest but he doesn't even seem to have notice it at all. Akai doesn't know why but she wants to know more about him, about his silver eyes that she can see clearly. The eyes of the man she knows can se beyond the human´s natural vision, the silver orbs has enchanted her. _What kind of power does he wield? What does the eyes of his hide? _Akai shakes her head with irritation as she walks down the corridor toward the exit of the tower.

* * *

**It** doesn't take long for her to find team 10 again. Asuma is still forcing Shikamaru and Chouji to run around the small battle ground at the outside of the village. Akai walks over to them and sits down on a small bench not too far away. Her wrist is still aching so she decides to not accompany them in their training. But honestly, her frustrated mood just want to break loose; she would love to beat someone to bits.

"Akai-san, you look pissed." States Shikamaru breathing quickly from the running.

"Hello to you too." She answers with a grin.

Shikamaru smirks in his lazy way and nods. Chouji walks up and sits down beside her gasping for air. He waves with his hand like a fan in front of his face. Asuma is quick to join them at the bench, lighting one cigarette. Akai glances at them with a slight smirk on her pale lips.

Akai feels that being with team 10 now, when Ino isn't around, is more comfortable for her. She doesn't have to think about the girl who she can't really trust. The two guys, Shikamaru and Chouji, seems to not judge her in the same way as their female team mate.

"You know, you didn't have to stop training because of me..."

"Be quiet, don't give Asuma-sensei ideas!" Whispers Choiji, he doesn't want to continue his training. "My legs hurt!"

Akai smiles.

"We were just about to stop anyway." Asuma speaks exhaling smoke.

"Well I need to head home soon, my mother will strangle me otherwise." Shikamaru tells them with a deep sigh but also with some irony in his voice, clearly exaggerating. "Troublesome woman."

Akai nods a little and prepares herself for her short journey to her hotel. She waves her good bye. Shikamaru waves lazily as he walks away while Asuma disappears in a puff of smoke. Akai is quick to notice that Chouji is following her. _He's probably living somewhere in this direction. _She thinks and slower her steps to match his. Their practise earlier must have been quite tough since the teen besides her walks slowly, complaining about sore muscles and an aching toe.

They walk in silence and the landscape around them changes as they walk from the battle ground into the busy streets of Konoha. A sudden thought strikes Akai and she asks Chouji without thinking first.

"Chouji-san, do you know a man with silver eyes?"

"Hmm?" He starts. "Silver you say?" Chouji seems a little surprised that she spoke to him.

"Yeah, silver eyes. Or in a white shade......"

She notices that she remembers many details about the man, more details than she usually keep in focus when ´_seeing´_ and recognising people. Akai curses herself under her breath. This isn't something she usually would ask a person she only have known for a couple of days. It's way too personal. It feels so unlike her, a thing she would never do. When a uncomfortable silence spreads between them Akai starts regretting her question even more. But her curiosity can't be hidden when Chouji starts to speak.

"Hmm? That sound just like..."

"...Yes?" _People say that curiosity killed the cat..._

"A member of the Hyuuga clan."

* * *

**AN; Hope you liked! R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN; ENjoy!

* * *

****Akai** yawns tiredly as she feels how the sun´s beams start to caress her face through the window. Night has turned into day once again. The albino ninja stretches her sore muscles and notices how her wrist starts to ache again; and the incident from yesterday comes back as a distant memory. Akamichi Chouji´s words are still clear in her mind. _The man with the silver eyes is a member of the Hyuuga clan. _A clan she doesn't know anything about.

Akai gets up from her twisted sheets and starts to make herself ready for a new day full of training. She dresses herself in her usual outfit but decides to pull back her long white-blonde hair into a ponytail for once. Two small strands of her hair falls down and frames her pale face in a gentle way. She tries to push them back behind her ear but they falls down once again, she sighs and quit fixing with her hair.

Her pale hands start to massage in the cold sun lotion over her bare skin, her face, neck and hands, careful to not miss anything. The sun that awoken her makes her believe that it's going to be a hot and bothersome day for her.

She says good morning to Kumori on her way out, hurrying so the girl won't get the chance to ask her why all the keys were lying on the floor when she came this morning. Sure she found her room key but it took a while, and she can't deny that it was hard to find the right one. She's happy that her sight is too bad so she can't see what mess she created for Kumori to clean up. Akai shuts the door behind her back and sighs relieved. _Now, lets find team 10._

She finds the team at their regular table at the restaurant not too far away from her hotel. Shikamaru greets her with a lazy look while Ino moves aside creating place for Akai to sit on. She sits down and greets them with a _"Ohayo gozaimasu."_ Chouji and Asuma arrives some minuets later with plates full of delicious food; pork, vegetables and shrimps, even noodles. The teacher must have noticed that Akai arrived because he has also brought her food, she thanks him with a bow.

Eating and training with team 10 has become a habit for Akai. A habit she has started to enjoy.

* * *

**Akai** faces Ino once again in a sparring match and both of them feels how the excitement is building up. _This time; ninjutsus and genjutsus are allowed. _Akai grins as the vibrations in the soil tells her that Ino has positioned herself in her fighting position. She frowns a little as she remembers her sore wrist but shakes her worried away with a small movement of her head.

"I'm not going to go easy on you, Akai." Ino smirks. "I'm ready for you this time."

The blonde smirks with an growing confidence as she looks at the Grass ninja.

"Are you here for talking or for fighting? Let's go." Akai´s own smirk grows. _I need to stay focused now..._

And the spar begins just as their last one; Ino charges quickly by throwing some weapons in Akai´s direction. The Grass ninja evades them easily and counters by throwing some of her shurikens back at Ino again. But that simple attack isn't anything near the level of the ones Ino are used to. She uses a kunai to block.

Akai decides that it's her turn to charge, she dashes of to the right running in a fast yet controlled speed. She's used to the battle field now and knows where the trees are, where the ground is unstable and where there are roots she could run into.

"Kusa bunshin no jutsu!"

Three look-alike appears in clouds of grass and Akai uses her clones to hide the real her. Ino doesn't seem to be impressed by the low rank jutsu and she just waits it out; believing that she can figure out who's the real one. Akai uses this to her advantage and sneaks away from her opponents sigh using a transportation jutsu, she appears behind Ino´s back. Ino, who doesn't notice Akai´s plan, slashes the grass clones with her kunai easily. Her blue eyes widen as the bodies disappear in a cloud of grass strands.

Akai is just about to punch the girl when Ino turns around and grabs her fist just in the right time. This surprises Akai and she gets thrown to the ground, she turns over in the air and turns a somersault when she hits the ground.

"I'm not that weak!" Yells Ino angrily, with desperation clear in her voice. She will do anything to win this battle. "Ninpo: Shintenshin no Jutsu!!"

Ino has improved her jutsu a lot. Now she can use it in a battle without any complications whatsoever. Her timing was perfect and the time for the jutsu to strike isn't as slow as it was back in the chuunin exams. She has grown a lot during these couple of years.

Akai gasps for air as she feels like something is trying to enter her body through her throat. Her blue misty eyes narrow as she understands what Ino is trying to do, and when she also understands that she can't do a thing to stop the Konoha ninja. Everything around her disappears before she gets the chance to scream _"Kai!" _that could have saved her. Everything turns black as she faints.

Ino´s body falls to the ground but Shikamaru grabs her by the shoulders before she touches the soil. He looks at Akai, that's standing some few meters away from them, with concern in his face. _Did Ino´s mind switching jutsu hit its target? _He and Chouji flinches as a small laugh leaves Akai´s lips, a laugh that they recognise all too well. _Ino. _

"Hahah... I got her."

"Ino, that was ..." Asuma starts but stops speaking as he regards Ino. "...Very unnecessary."

His female student, who's mind is now in the Grass ninja´s body, walks slowly forward with her hands in front of her face, waving so she doesn't walk into something. Shikamaru and Chouji looks at her intensively.

"God, I can't see a thing..." Ino murmurs so her friends almost missed it. "It's so dark, so blurry...."

How could Akai move so quickly, with precise movements when Ino herself can't walk without feeling lost in the darkness. She frowns as she tries to focus on her sight once again. But it's like someone has put syrup inside of her eyelids, seeing through the liquid seems impossible.

"You know, you didn't...." Chouji tries to tell his friend that it wasn't necessary to use such a jutsu in that situation.

"Whooah!"

The girl flinches as if the voice scared her. Ino turns around and faces Chouji who had spoken. She reaches out toward him and flinches when her fingers make contact with her team mate´s clothes. The blonde Konoha ninja feels rather scared inside of Akai´s body. It feels as if she's walking inside a darkness that won't disappear. And every sound is so much stronger and clearer to her, the sound waves draws a picture, inside of her head, of the landscape around her. And the soft touch, skin against cloth, feels so intense and real. She can hear, smell, and feel so much better than other regular people while her eyes isn't as good as they should be. _It scares Ino._

"What's wrong Ino?" Shikamaru asks her.

"I...couldn't have guessed that Akai sees the world like this."

Ino let go of Chouji and takes a couple of steps away from him, flinching when the sharp sound of her own footsteps invades her hearing. Her feet becomes visible as she walks and she notices how she can see, or feel she doesn't really know, how the vibrations from her feet creates circles around her two limbs as she walks. The circles grows and shows her the ground below her in a radar like manner.

Ino frowns as she decides to try running. The tapping sounds grows quicker and stronger as she accelerate and the radar circles around her feet grows in size. The girl gets more confidence and starts running as fast as she can over the training field. _This girl...she can see...in a different way! _

"Ino!"

Ino turns her head in the direction of the voice but keeps on running. A victorious smile graces her lips.

"Watch up!" Shouts Shikamaru loudly.

But it's too late. She runs into a nearby tree with an intense power that leaves her breathless. Ino, or Akai, falls to the ground with a groan and Shikamaru notices how Ino´s real body in his arms starts to move. The blonde ninja open her aqua blue eyes and hisses by pain, touching her forehead. She squints and regards how Akai´s body lies motionless near a tree not too far away. _Ow shit..._

"Couldn't you've warned me _a little_ earlier?" She complains, glaring at Shikamaru as it was his fault. "Itai..." She groans.

But the guy that's holding her just grins teasingly while he's trying to swallow a laugh. Seeing Ino running like a mad man across the field to end up on the ground is something anyone could laugh at.

"You got a lot to explain when she wakes up again." Asuma tells Ino. "I've a feeling that she won't be happy about this."

* * *

**Akai´s **blurry eyes flicker open but shut close buy the pain in her head. She groans and touches her forehead noticing a big and aching bump there. _What the...?_ The blonde albino pushes her body off the ground into a sitting position and stares at the blurry picture of Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji in front of her. Asuma is standing behind them with a cigarette between his two fingers.

"Huh...What happened?" Akai murmurs.

"Well, we'll leave this to you Ino." States Shikamaru.

He and Chouji moves back to sit down on the bench both clearly wanting to stay out of trouble. Ino sweat drops visibly and she forces a smile to her lips as she prepares herself to explain.

"Why do I have this bump...here?" Akai questions pointing at the red and swollen part of her forehead. "What _**did**_ you do, _Ino_?"

"Now I finally understands what you've been through Akai." She tells her out of the blue.

That sentence makes Akai flinch a little. She turns her full attention to Ino using her hearing to catch all the words that are falling out of the kunoichi´s mouth. A strong, cold and suffocating feeling grows inside of Akai´s stomach as Ino starts to explain.

"I used my _mind transfer jutsu_ and entered your body. I saw the world through your eyes..." Ino trails off with her eyes on the ground. She's thinking back to how it was inside of Akai´s body. She can't help but feel sorry for the handicapped girl. "I'm so sorry...I didn't know how hard it could be to not be able to see."

Ino turns her gaze, a pair of blue sad eyes full of sympathy, to Akai. But through Akai´s eyes they're full of pity towards her. The grass ninja clenches her fists and gets of the ground in a quick movement. Ino, who gets surprised by Akai, falls backward from her sitting position and hits the ground.

"Akai...?"

"Mind transfer jutsu...." She starts with an anger growing in her voice. " How _dare_ you...use **that** jutsu on me?!

Akai turns to Ino who's still on the ground. She looks at her with terrified eyes, and Ino notices how the mist inside of them are gone. She can easily see anger there, mixed together with fear, shame and irritation. But Ino can't understand what she did to made her_ that _angry.

"It was an accident..."

"So you mean that you went inside of my mind by mistake, heh?" Akai tells her loudly with some sarcasm.

"Mind transfer jutsu is a technique you only should use during missions, or if you've warned the one you're about to use it on! Ino what were you thinking?" Asuma corrects her as he have done a couple of times before.

"I'm sorry!"

Akai stares down on Ino with a hurt expression on her face. Her anger, that was brought out by the surprise of that Ino used that kind of jutsu on her, has turned into a sadness and embarrassment. She feels naked once again but this time it felt so much worse. This girl, Yamanaka Ino, has entered her mind, read her thoughts and learned her movements by using force. Akai feels so used. And now Ino believes that she understands what pain Akai has been through, _just like that. _Her lip starts to tremble as she speaks quietly but still clear.

"I don't need your pity Ino. Now, I'm out of here."

Akai turns around and walks calmly away from team 10. She hides her face behind the cloth of her large hood and continues forward with closed eyes.

"Wait!" Ino yells loudly.

"Akai, calm down! She said she was sorry."

Shikamaru grabs Akai by her shoulder and regards her with for once a serious expression on his always lazy face. The shadow user understands a bit of what the Grass ninja is feeling at the moment but he also believes that she reacted too much and took it all out on Ino. Shikamaru let go of her as she stops walking and turns to face him. The green hood hides her eyes but he regards how her lips form the words;

"I'm sorry... but I want to be alone for a while." She turns away. "Ino, forgive me for today. I over-reacted. Everything will be just fine tomorrow."

Shikamaru nods toward her even though he doesn't know if the girl noticed his answer. He sighs and mutters a _"troublesome" _as he turns to his team mates again. Chouji helps Ino to her feet again and the two regards Akai´s retreating form as she slowly disappears into the village.

"What _happened_ to her?" Asks Ino in a low tone, the trace of sadness and regret is clear in her voice.

"Ino. A scar like Akai´s can't be understood that easily. It goes so much deeper than the pain we can see with our eyes." Asuma stars explaining, throwing his old cigarette to the ground. "But I do also believe that she's ashamed..."

"Ashamed of what?" Asks Chouji.

"Of the things she believes you saw inside of her. Ino, I guess you punched a hole in her pride there." Asuma tells the three shinobi. " She didn't _see_ that coming."

"But what are we going to do about our mission? We were supposed to keep an eye on her." Chouji asks his sensei.

"Our mission was to watch her during her first days here, she has been here for a week now. It'll be fine. So let's continue our training."

Chouji sighs at the last part of his teachers sentence. He feels so torn from the day before so he thought that Asuma would go easy on them today, but he thought wrong. Shikamaru obeys without any complains, but Ino doesn't move. Her ocean blue eyes are fixed on Konoha. _Akai..._ Ino closes her eyes and sighs in silence before she turns to her team, ready for action. _What do I've to do... _She starts running. _How can I make her trust me?

* * *

_**Have **you ever been hurt by words that _"normal"_ people would enjoy to hear? Small things like _"I'm sorry"_ used in the wrong way or even statements that the who spoke them didn't mean to come out in a rude way; they just did. It hurts, so much. _Maybe she's just very sensitive or just foolish_. They say. But they doesn't understand her way of thinking nor why she reacts the way she does. But that doesn't change the fact that every word hurts, every action can cut you skin and make you bleed.

Akai sips at the cup of coffee Kumori offered her and enjoys how the warm liquid makes her throat ache a little, but she needs the energy and takes another sip. Kumori sits down at the other side of the desk and pulls her long black hair up into a messy pony tail, she takes a huge bite of her chocolate muffin.

"Good morning." She greets Akai.

"Yes it is." Akai answers in a ironic way, but she has to add. " No it wasn't. It's 3:00 pm now, I can't say that it's morning anymore."

Kumori regards Akai in silence for a moment but shakes it off; even thou she notices that something is wrong with the girl it's not her business to ask why she's down. She adjusts her glasses on the bridge of her nose and takes another bite of her muffin.

"I guess I disturbed your sleep when I entered?" Asks Akai, she wants to get her mind of the incident earlier.

"Yeah, kinda." Kumori answers in a lazy tone. "The baby kept me awake last night so I'm rather tired today..." Kumori yawns and takes a sip of her own coffee. "And _someone_ left all the keys in a mess on the floor so I've to fix that too.."

"What baby?" Akai tries to avoid the key-subject with a grin.

Kumori glares at Akai but her tiredness keeps her from arguing further about what happened last night when she left Akai alone with the Hotel´s room keys. She sighs and continues in a rather irritated voice.

"I got a baby sister some days ago and the poor kid doesn't do anything else than screaming. She screams for food, she screams when she needs a new diaper; she screams for anything! So I couldn't sleep." She starts. " By the way, that's why I've to be here since dad is busy taking care of her."

Akai nods understanding. She remembers the time when her little brother, Gosai, was a little baby. He would always scream for attention not caring if it was in the middle of the night or early morning. But as there are negative things there are also positive things about getting a sibling. And now Akai can't think about a home without Gosai there.

"What's her name?"

"We haven't come up with a name yet. So I´ll call her _"It"_ for the time being."

Akai smiles at Kumori´s way of being irritated by the fact that she has become a big sister. She doesn't seem to enjoy it at the moment, only thinking that it's troublesome. But things like that will slowly change and you find yourself loving the little person that you first thought was a bother.

"Ok...Thank you for the coffee Kumori-san. **I**_ needed_ it." Akai hands Kumori the cup and takes her key to her room. "And sorry about the keys..."

"No prob."

Akai walks up the stairs and enters her room slowly. She sighs loudly and stares at nothing as she lowers herself down to the over used bed. Her eyelids close as her thoughts wander to different things; Yamanaka Ino, the Hyuuga clan and her family back home in Grass. She turns over to her side and tries to find a more comfortable position.

* * *

**She **meets up with Naruto at their appointed place and enjoys how his carefree smile makes her tense body relax..The incident with Ino is forgotten. The blonde Konoha shinobi is leaning against the wall waving his hand in her direction. Naruto was released from the hospital some days earlier and the blonde was quick to ask Akai to eat with him.

"Konnichi wa Naruto."

"Hello Akai-chan..." He stares at her forehead. "What has happened to you?"

"...Yamanaka Ino, that's what happened." Akai answers sourly, she forces back the memory once again.

"Eh-heh...okay." Naruto answers questioningly.

They doesn't say much as they walk down the busy street of Konoha. Naruto takes the lead and shows her the way to his favourite restaurant that she had promised to eat with him at least once before she leaves. They are greeted by warm voices as they sit down at the chairs near the disk.

"Yo Naruto! The usual today? Oh who's the lady?" Says the old man who's working there.

"Hello! _Ano sa_...This is Akai-chan a friend from Grass. We'll take two bowls of ramen with some pork, eggs and don't forget your special spices!"

"It'll be ready in no time."

"I can't wait!"

Akai nods as a thank you to the man but hides her face behind her hood. Naruto turns to face her and explains that this was the first restaurant he visited in his life, and that his first sensei; Iruka treated him to a bowl of ramen here. Akai nods understanding. _That person is very important to him..._she ponders as he continues talking about the man called Iruka.

They get their bowls of food and starts to eat. Naruto hurries to swallow his noodles and seems to be in a hurry to finish his meal as if he's believing that someone would steal it if he dint eat that fast. Akai chews slowly on a piece of pork.

"Naruto.. do you know anything about the Hyuuga clan?"

"Eh? ...Yeah, but why asking?" He answers with a noodle hanging out of his mouth.

Akai points at the noodle in silence and Naruto cleans it away with a faint blush on his cheeks. She shrugs her shoulders, telling him that she doesn't care about his table manners, at all. She could barely see it hanging there anyway. Akai takes a sip of her cup of water before continuing.

"I'm kind of interested in their abilities...can you tell me about them? About their eyes..." Akai starts. "I feel that you're the only one here I could turn to."

Naruto´s slightly troubled expression turns into a smile at the last part of her sentence. Something about Akai makes him feel special, as if he's needed. He nods at last and puts away his chopsticks, only to order a new bowl of ramen.

"The Hyuuga clan is one of Konoha´s greatest familys. But I don't know much about the clan in itself... "

"Is it as great as the Uchiha clan was?"

Akai understands that it maybe is hard for Naruto to speak about the Uchihas but she doesn't notice any sadness or regret as he answer her question. Naruto receives his bowl and breathes in the warmth of the meal that's making the air foggy around it.

"Yeah...maybe even greater." He replies her.

"The Byakugan , _Byakugan _is an eye technique, it's kinda like the Sharingan, witch members of the Hyuuga clan are born with. Byakugan users can see through and detect anything around them, that's why they are so darn good at close-range combat." Naruto tells her like a professor tells his student. He also remembers his fight with the Hyuuga and thinks about how darn hard it was to fight back. He also remembers how Hyuuga Neji told him about his past, the cruel past he's been through.

Akai ponders about what Naruto told her. The strange feeling she felt when the Hyuuga, _probably a Hyuuga_, looked at her as if he saw everything just with one simple glance. Like he understood. She felt naked but in a way that was not forced or unpleasant. _Did he use this Byakugan? _But Akai do also believe that it's more about the Byakugan than Naruto is able to tell her. Something more beneath the surface... She chews on a piece of pork and swallows loudly.

"I believe that the clan is split into two parts; the main branch and the lesser one. I hope I remember it correctly... The people of the lesser branch has a _cursed seal_ on their forehead. So the main branch can, somehow, control or stop the others by using a secret jutsu..."

Akai listens carefully at what her friend got to say about the Hyuuga clan. And she feels how a hundred other questions start to grow and take form inside of her mind. She can't help but feel uncomfortable about the fact that the clan uses a jutsu like that to control the less important members of their family. _It would be like.. being a prisoner in your own home..._

"Akai-chan?"

"Oh...sorry I was spacing out." Akai grins. "I guess Konoha has a lot of strong clans right?" Akai adds so it won't sound like she's only interested in just one specific clan.

"Yeah, but honestly, why are you interested?"

"I just want to know what kind of shinobi there's here. Since I'm here to form an alliance I guess it's good if I know about it... " _Okay... I didn't tell the whole truth but... _"Thank you for telling me this."

"No problem." Naruto grins. " But you should talk to them instead, then it's easier to understand."

Akai looks at Naruto and nods slowly. Naruto is right, she shouldn't have asked him first like this, she could have talked to them directly. _But it's hard to start a conversation with someone you doesn't know much about...._But who knows how they would react if she started asking about the past? Powerful clans like the Hyuuga keeps stuff like that secret and people from the out side are not welcomed. Akai frowns. _What can I do to find out more about their eyes...?_ Naruto´s grin turns into a smile as he notices how Akai spaces out once again. He understands that something about the Hyuuga clan has caught her interest. He taps her on the shoulder to retrieve her from her dream world.

"Wake up, your noodles are getting cold.._.Dattebayo_"

* * *

**Akai** started to search after the man with the eyes after her conversation with Naruto. She doesn't know what she would do or say when they meet but she wants to see him again. She has been thinking, over and over again, during the passing days about everything she knows about the bloodline ability, the Hyuuga clan and about the unknown man she have met twice.

Akai did even try to research about the Hyuuga clan on the library but her handicap made it very difficult for her to read the kanji symbols. And she believes that she scared the woman working there, she turned pale so quickly after she asked her about one special book. But the old and dirty books didn't tell her anything more than the things Naruto told her. Everything is carefully hidden and out of her reach.

But she was slowly forming her own theory in her head, her believes and thoughts of the clan. She doesn't know how and when it happened but at some point, she felt as if she knew them already. That she understands them and the pain the lower branch has been through since it's something like her own pain. But also why the main branch branded them with the cursed seal to protect their Byakugan if members of the clan were killed. But can it be that easy to understand?

Her research about Byakugan lead to reading about another well knows kekkei genkai; the Sharingan. An eye ability that's similar to the Byakugan. She read that some people believes that Sharingan is from the beginning a different stage of Byakugan where a Tengu-demon and a member of the Hyuuga clan got a child together. The child possesses the _"new"_ Byakugan; that is just old tales and may not be close to the truth. _The sounds just so old, do people still believe in Tengus_? But since Akai isn't interested about that kekkei genkai she left it at that.

Team 10 noticed changes in Akai but none of them complained because the tense situation that Ino´s mind transfer justu created is like it never happened. The albino ninja is too focused on her training and other thoughts to care about that. Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino got a new chance to get to know her better and they didn't say no to that.

"Great work today Akai!" Chants Chouji.

"You too." She answers wiping away some sweat from her face. " You guys are making some progress."

"Akai, how about singing some karaoke with the girls after this? It will be fun!" Ino suggests when their about to say good bye for the day.

"Sorry but I can't... or honestly I don't want to. I'm not in the mood for meeting new people today, girls can be so... you understand?"

Akai´s relationship with people outside of team 10, Naruto and Kumori is still going slowly. She feels uncomfortable about it and doesn't want to be around people who she thinks will judge her immediately. And the thought of singing together with Ino, Haruno Sakura and a bunch of other unknown girls scare her. She already knows that Sakura in uncomfortable around her so it won't make things easier.

"Sure.. well some other time then. So where are you heading now?"

"To the library."

Akai notices the silence and sighs.

"Yes, I can read... I'm not totally blind you know? But it's really hard to find books with large kanji signs... the small ones are really annoying." She tells them with a small trace of annoyance in her voice.

"Haha ok, take care and see you tomorrow." But they shrug it off.

* * *

**When **you're looking for something you really want it's seldom you find it when you wants to. She keeps looking for the man but for each passing day she starts to believe that maybe she shouldn't search. At one of her walks she dozed off and just walked without thinking, ending up at a place she barely remember seeing before. She has started to think a lot and it keeps her going. And if it's meant to be, she surely will meet that man again.

Akai finds herself walking lost in thought once again, but the sound of her sandals against wood makes her focus at her surroundings. It doesn't take long for her to recognise the place as the sakura bridge she crossed on one of her first days in Konoha. The weak sound of sakura petals falling agrees with her theory just as the louder sound of the poring river below her._ This is the place where I saw him for the first time..._ She leans at the fence and enjoys how the breeze plays with her blonde hair, and how the fresh smell of water lingers in the air around her.

But her calm state of mind change as she hears the sound of somebody down the field on the other side of the bridge. Akai open her eyes and feels how a jolt of excitement grows inside of her as she realise that the one she heard is the one she's been looking for. Akai is quick to hide behind a nearby tree when she decides that she can't just go out there and say _"Hello"._

She watches how the blurry picture of the tall, dark haired young man moves gracefully over the field with full control. The small circles of sound that's created by his feet doesn't get the chance to grow because he moves rapidly and therefore, Akai notices that he can be as light as he wants to even thou his well trained body actually weights much more than he lets on.

Her sensible ears lets her regard him as he trains his body and she gets to see the gentle fist for the first time when he uses it against a tree. Akai hides her chakra as well as she can as she looks at the man; getting more and more enchanted by his movements. He can control his chakra and use it as a weapon in his punches; sharpening the charkra and cutting the tree with its edge. The man has a lot of endurance and just keeps on training, his breath doesn't flutter by exhaustion or by aching muscles. But after fifteen minuets he stops and turn his face toward the sky and the treetops surrounding him.

"Byakugan!" His calm and collected voice echo.

Akai recognises the feeling, she remember is as if it was just yesterday those white, narrowed eyes were fixed on her. She leans against the tree as an uncomfortable feeling invades her mind_, is he aware of my presence?_ But she shakes it off and continues to regard him as he starts to use his ability to search after the birds who left the ground at his abrupt halt. Akai closes her eyes and relies on her ears to locate the animals; just trying of she can find them just as he can. But his sudden uttering surprises her.

"I know you're there."

Akai flinches as she feels how his eyes are on her even thou she's hiding her body completely from his sight behind the tree. She decides to show herself and steps out of her hiding place. But the man doesn't even bother to look at her; he's gazing at the sky with a implacable expression on his face, but his body languish tells her that he's at ease with the situation. He doesn't show her any signs of irritation over her spying on him, or did he know where she were from the beginning? Akai regards his back. _He could see me even if he wasn't really facing me?_

"I guess you noticed me from the beginning. You could have said something."

Akai feels a little uncomfortable about the fact that this man probably knew all along about her watching him during his practise. But he doesn't answer her but continues to search after the birds using his bloodline ability. Akai´s sharp hearing catches his quiet counting of the animals and she answer his silent question when he stops at the number ten.

"There are 11 birds in this area." She tells him calmly, silently asking for his attention.

A pair of narrowed, white Byakugan eyes turns to look at her and she got the attention she wanted.

* * *

**AN; Hope you liked!**


	7. Chapter 7

**An; Sorry for the wait, school is really stressful at the moment. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed or put this to their favorites.**

"**Did** you just come here to annoy me…"His voice breaks the uncomfortable silence. "…Or did you need something?" He adds in a cold tone, showing no gratefulness for her earlier kindness.

He seems to consider if he can believe her judgement in the bird subject but his frowning face tells her that he doesn't appreciate that she told him their correct number. A cold shiver runs down her spine as those white, all seeing eyes of his pierces her soul. Akai notices his tenseness and understands that she somehow made him act that way. Her eyes can't see well but the blurry picture of the Hyuuga in front of her somehow makes her rather curious.

"What's your name?" He asks her when he gets no reply on his first question.

"Isozaki Akai." She tells him, but adds when he's about to ignore her. "It's regarded polite to tell your own name when someone told you theirs."

She dares to say, wanting to know more about him. Akai´s smile turns into a challenging smirk as she notices how the man seems to consider it, as if he doesn't really think that she's worth knowing his given name or thinking that it isn't any reason to tell? But something tells her that he's not underestimating her, he's just careful around an outside ninja. But he decides to be polite and proper at last.

"Hyuuga Neji."

Akai can't help but stare at him for some moments as her picture changes, "the man with the eyes" isn't nameless anymore and she wonders for a while if the name_ Neji_ is fitting him. Her weak sight can´t see or tell if that name compliments him or not. Akai decides that she has to be honest with him because a strange feeling tells her that his eyes will discover her secrets anyway.

"Hyuuga-san, to tell you the truth, I want to know more about your eyes." She tells him truthfully. "Your kekkei genkai interests me."

Neji gives her a long gaze without any attempt at answering her since she didn't really ask any questions. The Konoha ninja can't help but wonder what the foreign ninja wants to know, but he's rather sure of that it's something he doesn't wants to tell her. His uncomfortable silence tells her to continue talking before he loses his interest. Akai sends him a weird smile, a simple movement of her lips that tells him that she's quite nervous and uncertain about this.

"When I, a girl who literally can't see noticed that someone can see further than the average…" Akai stops talking for a moment. She can't help but lose her words. How can she explain so he will understand her? It would just sound as some strange novel or something if she tried. Akai´s blonde hair moves around her shoulders as she shakes her head as she changes her way to approach him with words. "…I just want to know you since I've a feeling that we have been through the same things…I understand your pain."

Akai doesn't dare to look at the man since the things she's about to say is not something she would say to just anyone. Small vibrations in the ground tells her how Neji has tensed, maybe he thinks that she pities him somehow? The albino girl decides to continue.

"I've researched about your clan… "

"What do you know?" He interrupts her in a cold voice, in an almost angry tone. He doesn't want to hear what she's about to say. "What do you think you know about the Hyuuga clan, about me? You can't possible know what I and my clan have been through, you're just…"

"An outsider." She ends before he could utter the word; she returns his impoliteness by interrupting him. "That's something I always hear. Or ´_We can't trust her, she can't see!´_ like my sensei once said to our village's leader. I've always been underestimated and neglected. **Just** like _you_."

Akai stares at Neji with determination shining within her blue/pink eyes. Her sensitive senses notice how the man in front of her tenses even more and gets hard as a rock. The small vibrations in the ground grow stronger as the man seems to get into a defensive pose. Akai knows that she's making her situation worse but she also believes that this is the only way she can explain how she thinks. Some might say that she's adding fuel to the fire.

"_We can't trust her, she can't see!´." _She tells him once again and adds something she believes he's familiar with. A sentence that is really alike the one she hears all the time. "_We can't teach him that move, he's not from the main family."_

Something inside of Neji explodes. He grabs her forcefully in a quick motion that takes her by surprise. A small gasp leaves her lips as Neji pushes her against a three with a pair of arms that seems to be made of iron. This girl, who's not supposed to be here on the Hyuuga´s training grounds, shouldn't know about any of this!.

Akai doesn't like the iron grip he has on her and she uses one of her basic grass techniques to get out if the situation. He body turns into grass suddenly and she appears beside Neji with an alerted expression on her pale face. She evades quickly as he charges at her with the gentle fist she read about. Those hard hands moves quickly to hit her charka points and Akai has to use her full hearing to escape from his sudden fury.

"You're in the …AUGH!"

A strong hand encircles her throat and makes it hard for her to breathe. Her blue, misty orbs stir but she finds Neji´s narrowed eyes at last; looking into a pair of Byakugan eyes she feels so defenceless and weak. But she doesn't look away when he narrows them further. In times like these you should be afraid and fight for your life but Akai can't help but just stare. Neji is in more pain than her at the moment, his angry composure tells her how upset her words made him. Akai thought she knew about his pain but now she realises that Neji is more hurt than she ever could have guessed.

"D-does it …h-hurt?" She stutters by the lack of oxygen.

"What?" He breathes. Akai notices the slight change in the man´s willpower and that makes her believe that her question actually caught him off guard, even if his composed body tells otherwise.

"…Your c-cursed mark."

A girl from another country shouldn't know the Hyuuga´s secrets and this one; she speaks as if she understands him. It pisses him off. His Byuakugan eyes turn shocked for a mere moment before he shuts them close firmly, he decides that it's best to not fight her since it would only make things worse. Hyuuga Neji feels naked in front of her, like she has him figured out. He knows that it isn't possible but Akai knows more about him that he ever told his fellow comrades. It's only his fellow clan members who should be able to see through his cold façade…

"Hn!"

Neji drops her suddenly and Akai falls to the ground gasping for air slightly, she glares at him with a pair of misty blue eyes while rubbing her aching throat gently. _Maybe he's more like me than I knew? What if he also pushes away people who want to help by thinking that they pity him? _The Hyuuga doesn't bother to even look at her as he slowly turns around to walk away. Her senses notice how his body composure has changed from tense to a battle mode, her sensitive ears can almost hear his quick pulse. _I must have pushed some of his buttons…just great! _She thinks with sarcasm. But a strange feeling rages in her stomach as she sees how the outlines of the man slowly disappear from her sight. Akai doesn't want their first meeting to end like this. Something about Hyuuga Neji is special and she knows that she'll regret it if she gives up now. Without her mind knowing what to do she opens her mouth and utters two words that she doesn't know where they came from.

"I know how it feels!"

The light vibrations in the ground get to an abrupt halt and that tells her that he stopped waling away. Akai closes her eyes. She doesn't know if her words will be the right ones, or if the man in front of her will understand something she can't explain herself. But somehow, in someway, she feels this special connection to him. His family relations and hers; always being underestimated somehow…by the ones you're supposed to love the most. But why should he listen to her? A stranger from another village, a blind girl with sickly pale skin and weird pink eyes, someone everybody else has rejected, underestimated or thought was not reliable enough.._ Someone who he has not known for a day._ But sometimes you've to try something you might regret to obtain the things that you want. Thinking she has nothing to lose, Akai tells him her thoughts in a lone sentence filled with more than the words can ever explain.

"…I know how it feels to be like a caged bird." She tells him in a low voice. "Locked away in your own home." Akai adds at last. "And the ones who you're supposed to love have thrown away the key…"

A long silence spread between the too and Akai feels that she has done too much. She regards his tense composure with a sad expression. _I've ruined it…_His blurry figure looks really beautiful there as he stands completely still with the wind playing with his long hair. But his whole body tells her about his weariness._ I wanted to get to know him better but I…ended up creating a larger distance…_

"I'm sorry." A sad and pained sigh leaves her rosy lips.

Neji´s white eyes twitch as the apology reaches his ears. Her sadness confuses him just as her way to ask of forgiveness. But something that her weak eyes can't notice is how his emotional amour is lowered for a moment as her words seems to reach him. He nods one lone time more to himself than to her before he continues to head toward the Hyuuga mansion on the other side of the bridge. The blurry picture of him nodding slowly makes her breathe out with some relief; Neji turns away from her to walk back over the bridge. His tenseness fades slowly as he moves away, the sakura flowers falls down around him as the breeze turns. Akai can almost feel how the cherry blossom petals touch his skin; Akai just wishes she could have seen it too. A pair of blue eyes flutter close slowly as Neji´s steps disappears out of her senses range. She touches her chest; her heart is aching.

* * *

**The **grass kunoichi feels that she can't stay here any longer now and she walks towards the Hokage building to ask Tsunade if the papers are ready so she can…go home again. Her fight with the Hyuuga depresses her greatly and it's one of her reasons to try to get out of the village. She needs calmness, she needs to rethink and get over her mistakes. Akai knows that she's fleeing and the thought makes her hesitate a little. By accepting the mission to guide Uzumaki Naruto back to Konoha and create a new alliance she thought that she could find some peace and freedom. Being away from an overprotective Akane, her _´I know everything_ brother Aoi and the whining Gosai …But she never thought that she would want to return, return to the cage. But something tells her that she never was free even outside her village, her cage follows her somehow and even new people, foreign people, treat her like the do at home. People are too superficial...

"Ogenki desu ka, Isozaki-san?" Shizune asks her when she passes her by in the corridor, Akai frowns at the tone the woman is addressing her with.

"I'm fine thank you." Akai answers in an half lie. "Is the Hokage busy? I've something to discuss with her."

"Hokage-sama is always busy." Shizune laughs. "But she's signing documents at the moment and I believe she would be happy to get interrupted."

"Well I'm off to interrupt her then."

The two women nod before walking away from each other. Akai knocks on the door three times before she opens it. She crinkle her nose as the strong smell of sake invades her senses. Tsunade greats her with a casual _hello´_ and a wave of her hand. The big breasted woman takes a sip from the bottle before she lowers it to the table.

"Hokage-sama, are the preparations done? I need to return to my country soon." Akai tells her bluntly.

"Sorry, but things like these takes longer time then I expected." Tsunade explains.

"How long will it take?" Akai asks in an irritated tone.

"Akai-san. You must have noticed that Konoha is a busy village; it'll take as long as it has to. We can't rush it. And now when Uchiha Sasuke might plan something I need my men ready. To tell you bluntly; your papers isn't our first priority at the moment." Tsunade tells her in a quite harsh way.

"But that's exactly why I need those papers now! What if he attacks Grass?" Akai starts to object.

"Akai-san!" Tsunade interrupts her. "Don't rush it. Nothing good will come out if it. As I've already told you once; I'll send someone when all the preparations are done. "

Akai is about to argue but she decides not to. Tsunade regards the girl in silence.

"If something is troubling you, sort it out now. You shouldn't run from your problems; solve them. So just be patient. You can leave"

"Sure… Bye." She utters with venom in her voice.

Akai knows that she's fleeing from her problems. And it's not her village's alliance that she's thinking of. The glares directed at her has always taught her how to stand up for herself and be strong. Dirty remarks about her pale face made her more determinated to show that she isn't as weak as people might think. She was treated roughly but she never thought of running from them; all she wanted and still wants is to prove herself. So why does his eyes haunt her? Why is she running from_ him_ when she didn't when the other kids in grass bullied her? Why is he different?

* * *

**Akai **can't sleep, she just toss and turn thinking about what she did to _him_, maybe she ripped open his scar and forced him to recall his clan´s quarrel? _Well sure I did! I literally punched him in the face! _She feels uneasy, like she just has to tell him something more to make it right again, but what? When Neji is around she seems to lose her words. And she is just…

_**Restless. **_

Have you ever regretted something so badly that you felt like screaming?

But why should she care? Neji is just some guy she thought she could relate to. She corrects herself; he's not just _some _guy…He´s the guy with the eyes. No… he's a person like everybody else and she doesn't know him, but why does it hurt? Why does Akai regret meeting him? Why does she replay her actions over and over again trying to find what she did to make him upset? What could she have done different? Could she approached him in a different way? It has always been hard for Akai to approach new people, her sarcastic attitude pushes them away but now when she really wants it she seems to offend them instead. Creating bonds with people sure is hard when they avoid you because of the way you look. Way too hard. Sometimes, Akai pondered, that it would be better if you didn't try.

_What if he's the same?_Having trouble with people in general…

Akai turns in her bed, frowning into her pillow.

* * *

**I** think that when you want to find someone you won't and when you doesn't want to, you'll find him. Like fate is toying with us like I wants…Akai finds Neji at that field again, near the bridge and the cherry blossom trees. He's sitting all alone in the tall grass with closed eyes, totally relaxed. Akai can't help but feel uncomfortable and she's quick to hide her charka and step in behind one of the trees near the river. The sound of the current below the bridge calms her nerves and she gets a chance to really observe the man that has caught her interest. He´s sitting on the ground crossed legged with his back towards her hiding place, the white sleeves touches the grass as his hands rest on his knees in a comfortable manner. Long dark brown strand of hair falls down his back but it's pulled together by a thin ribbon that keeps it in place. The pair of blue eyes is not able to see other smaller details but Akai can literally feel the other's calmness. _He's meditating?_ She doesn't want to ruin it. She closes her eyes again and pushes her body away from the tree, slowly making her way toward the centre of Konoha again. She's fleeing away from him.

"I know you're there." He states bluntly.

Her eyes snap open at the sudden voice and she stops walking immediately. A sigh leaves her lips as she turns around. _I guess I've already ruined his moment…_She awaits harsh words from him but the man doesn't move an inch nor does he open his mouth to talk. Akai can't read him at all; her body is tense and ready to flee in any moment but his tranquility and silence calms her nerves slowly.

"I never got the chance to learn how to meditate…"

"Is that your way of asking me to teach you?" He asks her in a calm voice, this time without any coldness.

"Eh? Well I…" She answers dumbly. "…Yeah?" A half lie.

It hadn't been her way to ask him to train her, but Akai shrugs it off, feeling pleased with the sudden opening. If Akai could see she would notice that a small but visible smirk graces his lips for a split second or two. With small steps she approaches his sitting form slowly using her hearing to locate his position. His calm breathing guides her to his side but she sits down and makes sure she's not too close to him. Akai is still wary about the sudden change in attitude and wonders what Neji wants. The tell grass tickles her skin through her fishnet trousers and she adjusts her position to avoid the irritating feeling. She's alerted by his sudden invitation to join him and feels slightly uncomfortable in his presence. A silence grows between them and Akai relaxes at last exhaling loudly. Neji shifts next to her as he starts explaining.

"…Meditation is like a mental discipline where you try to get beyond the conditioned _thinking´,_ into a deeper state of relaxation and awareness." He tells her in a way that makes her believe that he just copied that from a book somewhere. "You've to turn your attention to a single point of reference… You'll find a higher sate of consciousness and gain greater focus."

"…Okay." She answers him hesitantly.

A deep breath leaves her as she exhales. The Hyuuga´s presence does still bug her a little but she tries to calm down. Her arms lie against her legs as she starts to think of a place far away, but still so close; home. She remembers that sound that's created when the breeze moves quickly between the bamboo sticks, how they sway by the force of the wind. Tense shoulders falls down as she slowly starts to relax more until she's sitting there daydreaming. Gosai´s childish laugh enters her mind and she recalls his face, how his mouth seems to get wider as he gives that special sound no one else can create. She's there with him now with a smile on her face. _This meditation works…I feel as if I've left my body…_

Neji observes the Grass ninja as he notices how she relaxes beside him at last. His pearl white eyes move as he regards her in silence. His all seeing eyes regards her carefully in hope to find something, anything, that would make him understand why she acted the way she did some days ago. He looks at her for a long time before he turns away.

"I'm sorry." Neji says all of a sudden.

Akai´s brows twitch and her whole body tenses. The voice brings her back to Konoha again and she feels as if her spirit collides with her body as she´s brought back to reality. Neji notices this and stiffens. It takes some time for Akai to believe that she really is here at the field with him. She feels lost for a moment when she starts to think about want he meant, why would he apologise to her? Neji sits there beside her with an emotionless expression on his face staring into space; she notices a slight tenseness in his shoulder area, it is as if he's waiting for her to answer somehow. _But why would he…?_Akai´s eyelashes flutter open as she realises it. _He's apologising for yesterday just as I did…but this is like a…is he forgiving me? _

"Heh, I should meditate more often." Akai tells him quite hesitantly but with a smirk growing.

Both of them relaxes as the breeze blows by and the tenseness fades slowly. Neji sigh quietly and he starts to meditate once again with a new tranquil ness, the wrinkles on his forehead disappears as he finally lets go of his worries. Akai finds herself in her home village once more as she starts to focus; she's greeted by her old shinobi team. She misses her home badly but it's her duty to get the papers ready so Grass can once again join Konoha in an alliance. Her thoughts wander and she ponders over why it takes so long to prepare. Time passes by without words but none of the two feels uneasy. But they're soon brought back by a squeaky tone.

"N-neji nii-san."

The sudden voice seems to startle them and Neji tenses as he turns towards the voice he knows well. His cousin Hinata stands there near the river with a shy look on her face; her eyes are glued on Akai´s sitting form next to him. The said Grass ninja turns a little but doesn't open her eyes. She feels the vibrations in the ground as Neji gets on his feet

"Hinata-sama." Neji greets the woman with respect before he turns to Akai. "…I've to take my leave."

Akai turn to Neji as she gets off the ground and she nods as a reply. Her eyelashes flutter open and she looks at him with a pair of squinting, blue eyes. The air between them has turned from awkward to hatred to at last serenity and the change is clearly visible in their composures toward each other.

"Thank you for everything, Hyuuga-san. Take care." She tells him politely.

He nods. Neji´s eyes linger on her as he turns around to head over to his cousin, the Hyuuga heir. As he turns he notices how her blue eyes turn pink, he turns fully and walks away, with long, graceful steps. Akai watches his back for a moment before her eyes flicker close again with a large smile on her lips.

* * *

"**So** that's how you guys became friends?" Ino asks in a loud voice.

It has passed two weeks since the day Akai met Neji and much has changed. Tsunade has not yet contacted Akai about the alliance and the date when she'll travel home is not yet decided. Ino looks at Akai with a pair of slightly narrowed blue eyes. Ino, Akai, Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru and two unknown girls to her, called Tenten and Hinata hangs out at a lovely Chinese restaurant where this Tenten´s parents work. Ino who's the social of the group forced Akai to join her and friends to dinner.

"Well I'm still working on it. Could you stop shouting, Ino? I'm half blind and don't want to become half deaf too!"

Ino smiles sweetly as she takes another bite of her fried chicken. Sakura who sits next to Ino roll her eyes a little at the blonde. Shikamaru can´t help but lean against the table with a bored expression, a sigh leaving his lips. _Why am I here? _He ponders as he sighs again. The pink haired kunoichi stays silent though, looking at Shikamaru with an amused expression.

"Well Akai-san, whatever it's you're working on, it seems to be doing just great. You've managed something I haven't even after all these years as his team mate. I've never seen Neji act this way around anyone."

"What do you mean?" Akai asks her while taking a sip of her bottle of ice cold water. "He's a bastard towards me; sometimes I think that he ignores me too."

Akai is quick to tell them that the relationship isn't as great as the others might think. It's a friendship based on a very strong trust towards each other, a politeness and understanding. Sometimes Akai feels as the word _friend_ is too strong to describe the bond she has with Neji, it doesn't fit them just yet. She feels that their relationship is breakable and not strong enough. During the days she spent with the silent, cold and polite Hyuuga she has noticed that he's a very strict sparing partner. If they think that he treats her in a special way the doesn't know anything, she has returned to her hotel with bruises and aching limbs everyday.

"Oh, A-a-akai-san… My c-cousin has c-c-changed a lot since you came h-here." The purple haired kunoichi stutters. "You just don't s-see what w-we see."

Akai looks at Hinata in a strange expression, not really understanding. She can't help but sight also, sure she knows that Hinata didn't mean anything with it but of course she can't see what the others see; she's half blind! The grass shinobi doesn't know the Hyuuga girl well but Naruto seems to consider her a close friend so she didn't hesitate when she also came along to eat dinner. The lavender haired girl has eyes similar to Neji´s but they lack the intenseness he possesses. But that doesn't matter; Akai still feels that Hinata could become a good friend but also that the girls shyness might come in the way too. She recalls that she was the woman who came when she and Neji meditated together for the first time.

"I guess what Hinata means is that Neji seems happier, well at least happier than back at the chuunin exams." Naruto explains. "He was really grumpy before…" Naruto shivers as he once again recalls how he fought against Neji.

No one noticed how a small red blush covered Hinata´s cheeks as Naruto talked about her; she was quick to direct her eyes to the ground.

"You only say that because he almost killed you!" Sakura jokes.

"Yeah." Shikamaru smirks in his lazy way. "…It's too troublesome to remember, isn't it?"

Naruto grimaces.

"Quiet!" Ino interrupts the others in a rude way, but she smoothes it over with a friendly smile and a blink of her right eye"…I agree with Naruto there. I don't know Neji very well but even I can see that he considers you special." Ino tells Akai at last.

"Yeah…" Sakura agrees. "He doesn't seem that cold and…alone anymore. Maybe he likes…"

"No… It's not like that! At all!" Akai shouts almost panicked.

The group flinches and stares at her.

"It's not?" Tenten asks in a confused voice.

Akai can't help but blush. She has never been in one of these situations and the strange feeling that grows in her stomach makes her squirm. Everything is new to her and she doesn't want to make it stranger than it already is. When someone tells her that Neji might consider her special she can't help but feel uncomfortable. No one has ever considered her special, maybe her team mates back home and her parents or siblings but not in a way Ino and Co are mentioning. Akai shakes her head. She can't even think of that someone will think of her in a stronger way than friendship, who would want her? She's just happy that Neji seems to accept her and that's enough.

"No. We just feel comfortable in each others presence… that's why we cooperate so well. Eh… Ino, Shikamaru? I believe Asuma-sensei will scold us if we skip practise…Chouji is probably already waiting for us so let's go." Akai is quick to change subject.

"What a drag…" Shikamaru mutters as he moves toward the exit." Chouji will surely kill me if he finds out that we were here, I mean he would love to taste Chinese food. Troublesome…"

"Well Akai´s right!" Ino tells the others in a cheerful tone. "I guess we have to go, thank you for coming though. And Tenten, tell your parents that the food was delicious!"

"Bye Ino-pig." Sakura chants in an innocent tone.

"Bye Akai-chiyaaaaaan!" Naruto shouts in his squeaky voice.

Ino waves and turns to follows Shikamaru, Akai gives the others a nod before following the other blonde. She feels relived when the three of them leaves the restaurant, a sigh leaves her lips. She has never liked being around many people at once and especially if it's people she doesn't know. It's in times like these she wishes that she was with Neji. He doesn't force her to talk about anything she feels uncomfortable with; he's silent and will listen if she has something to say. His tranquil ness affects her in a way that brings out a unknown personality from her; his mere presence brings her out of her defensive self, her amour towards the ones who underestimates her…She can be herself around him and it's oddly comforting.

"Akai! You're daydreaming again." Ino complains but her voice turns into a teasing tone. "About a certain…."

"No!" Akai shouts a little flushed.

* * *

**An; that´s it. I´ll be in Lithuania this week so I can´t write for a while. Anyway, thanks for reading this far, review if you want. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AN;Hello everyone! Sorry for my late upload but´I´ve been busy with school... Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favs. It´s great that people reallt do read this story! Thanks.

* * *

****It **had taken Akai by surprise when Neji offered her his guidance and his help with her training. Since her first conversation with him, the time when he almost strangled her, still is very clear she had been surprised by his sudden change of attitude towards her. _What could have made him change his mind about me? _The albino girl thinks as she walks by the said Hyuuga´s side toward the training grounds. The silence around them feels natural and comfortable.

It's still early and the small amount of warmth from the rising sun is not enough to make Akai stop shuddering from the coldness. Her mother has always told her to have many clothes on and she regrets not listening to her for once. The colour blue reaches her senses as she squints to see and Akai understands that it's going to be a warm day today. _Did I put on enough sun lotion?_ Akai glances in Neji´s direction. _I hope I won't hold him back during training today…There´s a risk that the weather gets too much for me to handle. _

At first, Akai had been unsure about this new development. She had only researched about him and his clan but talking and training with him is certainly not like it's described in the book. After their first meditation together she had started off purposely going to one of the training areas near the river where the Hyuuga was known to hang out whenever he wasn´t training at the Hyuuga complex. Fortunately he had been there one of those days, barely out of breath even though the dirt on his white robe told her about his non-stop practise. She felt a little more comfortable back then and greeted him when he stopped moving; she didn´t want to disturb his training season.. It was at that time Neji asked her to join him and they've been training together from time to time since then. Asuma-sensei does often cancel her training with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji so his offer comes in handy.

But honestly, Akai can't deny that she regretted accepting his offer the first week of training. Neji, who's a really strict sparing partner, didn't let her leave the training grounds between morning and evening. They trained non-stop until Neji at last ended the season, but Akai thinks he did it because he saw her exhausted state and trembling limbs. At first she was angry at him but she wasn't able to walk properly the day after so she saved him her complains. Sometimes it's hard to know if he's underestimating her or just change things to match her handicap better.

Akai smiles a little as she returns to the present. Neji walks in silence as he always does but it has changed from an uncomfortable situation to a relaxing stillness. Akai and Neji have come over that level where you distrusted the other. They walk down Konoha´s still empty streets toward the place where they first met; the field on the other side of the river. Akai notices how the sound from her feet changes and she understands that they must have reached the small wooden bridge already. A blurry picture of a bunch of sakura trees invades her mind.

"So what's on the schedule today, Neji -san?" She asks with a hint of curiosity in her voice. She sees Neji as a friend but addressing him without a _"-san" _would be too informal "My legs are still stiff from climbing those threes..." She adds referring to their training some days ago, but there's no complaining in her voice at all.

"You'll be fighting against my gentle fist today." He answers in a rather impassive tone, as if he's thinking about something else.

Akai eyes widen a fraction but she answers with a low _ah-hah! _and closes her eyes to ponder on it with a mixed expression on her pale face. Neji regards her reaction for some moments before he turns his gaze away too, disappearing into his would of thoughts.

* * *

**White **blonde hair frames Akai´s face as the wind blows by, her tresses moves gracefully as she stands still in her fighting pose. Her eyes are shut close, her legs are apart to give her more balance and she has one arm in Neji´s direction.

Her sensitive senses are focused on the man, focused on every sound, every vibration from him that could tell her about his plans. But he stands still just like her. Her mind is dark but the calm breathing from Neji sends make his form appear inside of her head and his precise location is easy to tell. But a shiver runs down her spine as Neji activates his bloodline limit. She still feels as if he's able to see everything when those eyes are on her. Akai´ll know when he decides to make a move, but she hasn't the patience to wait for him; she starts the fight.

Her quick steps gets louder as she runs toward Neji, she doesn't wait to bring forth her beloved bo-staff. The vibrations from her own feet locate Neji as he positions himself in his Hyuuga pose with one hand in front of him. Akai forces herself to not hesitate as she charges; she can't show him that she's concerned about his abilities and how she can beat him. _I can't get too close to him since his specialty is close combat; I need to distance myself with my bo-staff. _Her earlier battles with the Hyuuga taught her that he's very skilled at close combat so if she gave him that, he would win all too easily. A quite sound makes her understand that Neji is changing his pose, but she has no time to change her way to attack. _Oh no! A frontal attack will never work! I'm caught…_

And she's right. Akai has to drop her staff in order to defend herself as Neji counter attacks. He moves out of her way gracefully and uses his raised arm to punch her out of balance. Akai curses as she stumbles forward but she uses her power to turn again and throw a punch toward the Hyuuga´s face. Skin meets skin as he presses his palm against the back of her forearm to push her away from him once again. Akai stumbles forward once more but she throws a quick kick that hits him weakly near his stomach. A weak kick that she knows that he could have evaded, but why didn't he? She shrugs her shoulders. Using the gained time after the attack to create more distance between them, Akai grabs her staff that lies on the ground not too far away. _He'll be able to block all my attacks if I continue like this…_

A gasp leaves Akai´s mouth as her ears suddenly picks up the sound of him moving close to her. She jumps back as he appears in front of her but she's too late and she feels how a punch connects with her shoulder. An amazing amount of charka seems to emerge from his palms as he hits Akai and it forces her to take some steps backwards. _He uses his chakra…_Akai hurries to move as she sees his next move and she's able to block the hand that was aimed at one of her chakra points near her neck. _If he hits me...I can't fight without my chakra! _Akai is well aware of what his fingers can do to her, he can easily turn off her flow of chakra and when that happens she won't be able to use any of her techniques. _I've to create distance between us!_ She starts to back away slowly and her eyebrows twitch as she notice how Neji seems to space out a little. He doesn't move as she back away, his pose gets carelessly weak for a moment.

"Let the real battle begin now." Akai tells him with a cocky tone, smiling when she sees how Neji comes back to reality again. Seeing him space out is something new to her.

"Hn." Neji snorts as he gets back to business.

"So now that we're warmed up we can get started. Kusa bunshin no jutsu!"

Three copies of her emerge out of a cloud made of grass and Akai charges once again by throwing a couple of shuriken. The metallic sound of her weapons hitting the ground tells her that he has successfully dodged them and she and her clones charges at the same time. But to no avail. He hits all of her clones with his gentle fist and they all disappear in a small whirlwind of grass. His hand connects with her jaw all of a sudden and the punch-like slap sends her flying through the air. The rough ground cuts her skin as she rolls by the raw power of his attack, she bumps into a nearby tree. Akai groans as she pushes herself of the ground, her back is really hurting from the collision with the tree. When she's finally on her feet again Akai notices how Neji just sands there unmoving. He has deactivated his kekkei genkai and looks really lost in thought.

"Neji-san?"

Neji snaps out of it and his all seeing eyes are on her again. Akai sighs as she puts away her bo-staff.

"You seem out of it today."

* * *

**Akai** sits down in the tall grass to calm her body down; she pulls back her slightly sweaty hair from her face before she pulls her hood over her head. The sun has gotten stronger without her noticing it and she can already feel how her skin is starting to itch. She leans against the three behind her to use its shadow as a cover as she relaxes. Her ears pick up the sound of Neji joining her as he sits down.

"You seem troubled." Akai tell him in a questioning manner. She has never seen the Hyuuga space out before and she's sure of that it can't be a good sign. "Family problems?"

"…yes."

Akai nods understanding and doesn't ask for more. She has noticed during their training that his mind was elsewhere and it had bothered her. But she won't ask since she knows that it would be so better if he opened up by his own accord than that she forced him to. Both of them stay silent for a while and Akai is grateful, she tries to calm down her harsh breathing by taking deep, slow breaths. She seems to be the only one who's exhausted because Neji´s breathing is like usual; calm. It doesn't take long for the Grass kunoichi to understand that he's meditating, probably to find a solution for his worries.

Akai leans back again and closes her eyes. Her mind wanders to other things and Akai leaves her body behind. Meditation has become a large part of her training ever since she understood that she became much calmer and collected afterwards. Akai´s personality has started to become more stable and her defensive shield has been lowered somewhat around the Hyuuga. Akai´s true personality shows a little especially around Neji since he doesn't judge her like many others. But the albino has not noticed that yet, she just feels calm and comfortable.

"Why did you choose to become a shinobi?" ¨

The sudden question makes her flinch out of her meditation mode and she turns hear head toward Neji. She opens her eyes.

"…" Akai looks at Neji for a moment before she lowers her gaze to the ground. His eyes can easily pick up her discomfort as she seems to be looking at her memories. She hesitates, thinking that telling Neji everything might still be too early. She doesn't know the guy well enough to share her past. But she knows his so maybe it would be fair.

"…I guess I wanted to become a ninja because everyone told me it would be impossible."

Something about Akai´s silence tells him that he should not ask for more information so he stays silent by her side. Neji has always been good at reading people but he doesn't need his kekkei genkai to understand that this is a sensible subject. His thoughts wanders to a certain person he knows feel just like Akai. His shoulders twitch slightly and he's brought back to reality as she continues explaining when he expected her not to. His milk white eyes flicker to her form for a second.

"I've been treated differently ever since I was born into this world. My pink eyes, my pale skin and my low sun tolerance…They said it would never work since I'm also partly blind. Everybody underestimated me, gave me more help than I wanted…they still do. I can remember how I started to fight during my childhood; fight to show everyone how wrong they were…That I didn't need their pity."

Akai clenches her fists a little as they lay in her lap but she starts to play with her sleeve. Neji´s eyes narrow slightly at this; he notices the difference between the person he thought of and Akai now. The Grass ninja is more determinate and strong willed.

"My dad was the only one who supported and helped me to reach the first step; he trained me even though I often hurt myself because my handicap; it made me kind of clumsy. He didn't care that the village people where gossiping..." Akai stops taking to take a deep breath. "My world shattered when he passed away."

Akai´s throat starts to hurt by emotion she wants to ignore. Pain that has been put aside during the years threatens to break through her barrier but she swallows it slowly. Neji´s eyes move away from her being and he looks into the distance.

"But he didn't stop believing in me during his time here and that made me realise that everything would be in vain if I gave up after his death. So I kept practising and my senses slowly grew stronger through the years. I was finally accepted by our leader as a true ninja and I thought my dream came true that day... But it didn't take long for me to find out that one mans acceptance wasn't enough for me to get truly acknowledged. My team accepted me after a while, after a lot of doubts…"

Akai can't hide her emotions well and her voice wavers slightly. She remembers how the fellow ninjas would look at her, looking down at her as if her whole existence was a joke. A small amount of her protective shields covers her true personality from Neji now when she's so close to crying. She looks rather unmoved instead of pained. Akai doesn't want to show Neji her weak side since she believes that he might think badly of her if she does.

"But now when I look back at it…I guess I only wanted to prove that I was strong enough to protect Grass too. I'm a kunoichi because I want to protect my loved ones and even the people who speak bad of me…everyone is important. I won't let my albinism bring me down."

Akai turns to face Neji for the first time after she started to explain and she sees that the Hyuuga´s expression once again looks empty and a little troubled. Something makes her think that she somehow forced her burden onto his shoulders as well and she's quick to apologise.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have told you all of this."

"It's fine."

Neji pushes himself off the ground in a graceful movement and Akai follows his example and stands up slowly. Her still aching back makes her movements less graceful.

"I've a mission later today so we can't meet at our usual time for some days." He tells her in a flat tone. Akai nods slowly, feeling slightly disappointed by the fact that they can't meet, but she smiles.

"When will you return?"

"In about three days."

"Okay, good luck." _I hope that I'll still be here when he comes back…_

Neji nods as a _thank you_ before the two of them parts. Akai walks slowly towards Konoha´s centre while Neji continues on toward the Hyuuga compound. Akai feels weird as she walks away from the field, something is bugging her. Why did he ask her like that all of a sudden? and Why is he so distant?

* * *

**S****he** walks on down the street, passing the Yamanaka flower shop on her way. But she doesn't stop by to greet the loudmouthed blonde since she's in no mood for talking about stuff like fashion, clothes and boys. Akai walks deep in thought until a familiar voice interrupts her peace.

"You say that these portions of baby food will cost that much? It was cheaper last week; can't I get them for 1000 yen?"

A smile graces Akai´s face as she approaches Kumori near one of the many stands. A happy and childish chuckle tells her that the girl has brought the baby with her.

"Aren't you too young to take care of a child? How irresponsible. And no the price is 1500 yen."

"It's not my child!!" Kumori shouts. "I'm only 17! And what sane person would pay 1500yen for these, C'mon!"

"Here, take these."

Akai interrupts their conversation by adding a couple of coins to Kumori´s ones on the table. The woman working there sends her a strange glance before she accepts the money and hands Kumori the food. The black haired girl looks at Akai with a surprised expression on her face as the two of them walks away from the stand. The child in her arms reaches out to touch Akai´s hair.

"Are you broke?"

"Well I don't get much for working at the hotel so yes. But dad still thinks that I've enough to take care of the baby too, I mean… I so wanted to buy that book and now…Gah! No don't pull that hard!"

Akai grimaces as the child pulls her hair carelessly. But her expression turns uglier as Kumori tries to loosen the baby girls grip on Akai´s hair. The girl's oval glasses falls down to the tip of her nose as she struggles to not hurt the other girl further by pulling her sisters hand to much.

"Ita ita itaaaaaai." Akai complains under her breath as the baby finally let her hair go.

"Sorry for that." Kumori sighs.

"I'll survive… So your father is taking care of the hotel today then?"

"Yes. I got some free days now but I've to help mom with this little monster. So I can't really say that I'm free. I've loads of homework to do later…"

"You're baby-sitting?"

"Uh-huh. Do you've time? I'm not good with kids so… "

"Eh Sure…"

"By the way… you seem to be in pain, what's wrong?" Kumori asks.

"Training.I bet I'll be sore tomorrow too."

"Being a ninja must be tough, ne? I'm glad I didn't attend to the ninja academy."

Kumori grins as she puts down the baby food into her shopping bag, smiling to herself while probably imagining how she would act being a ninja. Akai doesn't smile at it but she also knows that everyone should have their own opinion, and Kumori choose to not become a ninja… while she had to fight to get the chance to become a shinobi. It just shows how different they're to each other, growing up differently into two different worlds.

"I've to find some ingredients for today's lunch. Do you think you can carry Rima while I fetch them? It won't take long."

Kumori hands Akai her baby sister without waiting for her reply and the Grass ninja takes the small child with gentle hands. Pink eyes flutter open as a small giggle leaves the small girls mouth; she feels once again how a pair of small chubby hands reaches for her hair. _So her name is Rima…_ Akai hears how Kumori walks of towards one of the stands and she turns her focus to the girl in her arms.

Akai can still remember the day her mother and father came home with a baby boy draped in a white towel. Gosai was a really cute baby and she also remembered how she, just like Kumori, didn't like the big sister role at the beginning. Akai was an egoistic child. But she also believes that since she's an albino her parents gave her much attention even though Gosai needed just as much as her. Sometimes Akai even thinks that her brother didn't get enough attention because of her. A sad smile is on her lips as she looks at the girl. _Many people have suffered because of my albinism. _

"Oh, Konnichiwa Isozaki-san."

A sweet female voice interrupts her thoughts and Akai puts her focus to recognise the familiar voice. She has the name of the owner on the tip of her tongue but can't spit it out. Akai turns around to face the person and she squints to get a view of her. Brown hair pulled back into two buns, tanned skin and brown eyes.

"Eh…Tenten-san?"

"Bingo! Heh-he."

Akai remembers the girl as one of Ino´s friends, the one who owns a restaurant and who's also one of Neji´s two team mates. She hasn't talked to the girl properly yet so her image of her is rather weak. A noise from the girl's right side tells Akai that Tenten is not alone; a pair of heavier footsteps joins her.

"Oh right! You've not met before. This is Rock Lee."

"Nice to meet you."

"It always fun to meet new people!" Lee tells her in a very cheerful tone. "I've heard about you from Naruto-kun and Neji."

Akai can't help but smile at the fact that Naruto has talked about her with his friends, but she doesn't know what to think about Neji. Whatever he has said about her can be both negative and positive; she has no clue what he would say about her. Her smile grows as Lee keeps on talking with so much energy; he seems to be a very good guy. Rima giggles and reaches out for Lee and Tenten chuckles as her team mate starts talking to the child in a very childish tone.

"Who's this little lady?" Lee asks Akai.

"Her name is Shirakawa Rima-chan, she's the daughter of the man that owns the hotel I'm staying at. I'm just baby-sitting her for a while."

"Konnichiwa Rima-chan, I'm uncle Lee. It's nice to meet you." Lee continues to talk with Rima in a ridiculously childish voice.

Akai smiles at the Konoha ninja, thinking that he´s good with children but Tenten interrupts her thoughts.

"Have you talked to Neji recently?"

"Yes, we trained together this morning, why do you ask?"

"He showed up?…Well he's not come to practise with Gai-sensei lately and I thought that since you two seem to get a long, maybe you knew what is bothering him. We've a mission later…"

Akai stays silent. So her team mates have also noticed Neji´s behaviour. _He didn't show up at their training?..._Just this situation gives her a really bad gut feeling. _Something is really wrong here. What kind of family troubles can make him act this way?_

"He didn't tell me anything." Akai answers truthfully, but she doubts that she would have told Tenten if she knew. Neji´s problems aren't something you should go around and talk about like this…it feels too personal. Akai moves a little as Rima grabs Lee´s hair she smiles a weak smile and helps the Konoha ninja to get free again. "She has a nice grip."

"Haha yes!" Lee laughs.

"We have to go now, Lee." Tenten tells her friend.

"You're right! I almost forgot. It was a pleasure meeting you Akai-san."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too. Good luck on the mission."

"Thanks, Sayonara."

Rima complains a little as Lee wave goodbye but Akai starts talking to her and the baby forgets about it and starts chuckling again. But Akai can't really smile; she's not really there since her thoughts still lingers around what Tenten said. She's worried about Neji and her concern grows stronger. Akai looks to her right when a pair of footsteps approaches; she recognises Kumori immediately and so does Rima.

"So now I'm done shopping." Kumori takes Rima gently. "Who are they? Some of your ninja buddies?"

Kumori looks at Tenten´s and Lee´s back as the two of them walks away. She hugs Rima close to her chest as she puts down her plastic bag with the bought ingredients to the ground.

"I guess so. But I've not talked with them much."

Kumori turns to look at Akai as she notices the distant tone she's using. She uses her free hand to push up her glasses a little.

"Did something happen?"

"…No…Yes, I just remembered that I have to do something."

"Are your ninja duties calling?" Kumori jokes. "Good luck."

Akai nods silently and waves as she turns to leave. Her conversation with Neji´s two team mates has made her understand that her thoughts about the Hyuuga might be correct. He's going though some hardships right now. A feeling in her body tells her to go find him, comfort him somehow. Will he accept her help? Akai doubts it though; why should he talk to her when he seems to ignore his team mates worries?

* * *

**AN; so! I hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R if you like it, it´ll help me a lot. It´s always fun to know what you think. so tell me if you hate it also. Have a nice day**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN; thank you for faves, reviews and alerts! It just makes my writing easier. I want to thank Sparkleshadowcat for all the support, help and encouragement. She halped me brainstorm about this and upcoming chapters. Thanks! Now on with the story.

* * *

****Akai **searched after Neji but she couldn't find him that evening. Her heart felt heavier with each step she took towards her hotel, and evening turned to night.

Deciding to walk the long way, she changes her route and walks toward the main entrance of the village. Four dark silhouettes move around the large open gate and Akai squints to see them as their vibrations reached her. Her eyes snap open as she recognises one of them.

"Matte!" Akai pants "Neji-san!"

Akai´s ears pick up how the team stops walking as the sound of her voice reaches them. She stops running and walks slowly towards them to catch her ragged breathing. To no avail, her heart speeds up a little as she feels how all their eyes turn to look at her, especially a pair of all seeing eyes that belongs to her training partner.

"Akai…" A small hint of surprise can be heard.

Akai waves a little with her hand, but her mind is working like hell. He called her by her first name for the first time! And without a "_–san." _This takes her by surprise and her question that she has prepared is lost for a couple of seconds.

"…Oh, you're leaving?" _what a dumb question!_

Neji has turned to face her and his eyes doesn't leave her face, she's very aware of it since his gaze makes her skin tremble under her robes. Her senses pick up the way he's standing, his breathing pattern and tone of voice; everything tells her that he's not happy about something. _His problems aren't solved yet… _Something inside of her stomach turns at the fact.

"Yes." His voice is blank as always.

"I need to talk to you, do you've time? It won't take more than a couple of minutes."

Neji looks at her for a moment before he turns his head in his sensei's direction. Lee and Gai seem to watch him intensely and their gazes make the Hyuuga frown; you never know exactly what the two of them are thinking about. But Tenten smiles as if she knows something he doesn't.

"Just don't take too long, ne?" Tenten answers.

"Lee look! It's the power of youth; it has finally reached our Neji!" Gai shouts.

"…hn…"

Akai sweatdrops anime style as she for the first time sees Lee´s and Gai´s true personalities. She forces herself not to laugh, and hurries to turn around. The light vibrations in the ground tell her that he's following her. She stops not too far away from Neji´s team but far enough, she doesn't want them to hear. While searching for a good way to start the conversation she slowly opens her eyes, focusing her sight on Neji´s form. His white robe is so blurry and the dark colour of his hair floats into the white cloth. Akai squints.

"What did you want to talk about?" He breaks the silence with a rather impatient tone. But Akai knows it's something else than impatience; he's worried.

"Well…I…" Akai has trouble finding the right words. "I know that you're going though something right now and I just want you to know that I…" Akai changes her sentence when she can't come up with a good way to continue. "I _can't_ force you to trust me with your thoughts but I can listen if you feel like talking about it. It may not look like it but I'm a good listener."

Akai takes a deep breath; she was able to tell him. She tries to read Neji´s expression and she curses her bad eyesight for not letting her see more that a blurry face with black hair framing it. The air between them grows tense for a second but it fades into something else. And his eyes become the only thing she can see suddenly. Those white eyes that enchanted her the day they first met are gazing at her with an emotion she can't place. Her bad sight starts to irritate her.

"Neji! We've to hurry now." Lee shouts.

Neji´s body tenses momentary at the sound of his team mate's voice but he keeps his cool. Akai fails to do the same and she flinches by Lee´s sudden voice and jumps by surprise. Neji exhales deeply and the warm breath tickles her over sensitive skin and it doesn't stop tickling as he turns his eyes to her once again.

"Wait for me at the field in three days, around sunset." He tells her in a low voice after a short silence.

"Hai." Akai nods.

Neji gives her one last glance before he turns around to join his team mates and sensei. Akai takes another deep breath and a smile takes form on her lips. It fades when the cold wind blows by and she realises that its night now and that she was stupid not to notice it. Akai shakes her head.

"Have a safe trip!!!" She shouts after them.

Tenten waves at her as their silent reply. Akai´s earlier sadness and worries fades momentary at this and she walks away smiling broadly. Neji wants to se her after his mission, he might open up further. She starts to head home and the chilly wind makes her want to crawl under the warm sheets of her bed as soon as possible.

* * *

**Akai** has mixed emotions as she walks toward the Hokage´s office the next day. A very irritating and brainless, well in her point of view, dove disturbed her sleep this morning by tapping at the window restlessly. She quickly realised that the dove is one of Konoha´s messengers and a strong amount of happiness bloomed up inside of her. But then an eerie coldness took its place. _Is it already time for me to go home? _Something about that thought makes her hesitate. She promised to meet up with Neji in two days and if Tsunade tells her it's okay to go home she won't get allowed to stay here longer. She'll be forced to leave Konoha and all of her new friends behind.

The atmosphere she thought she would meet when she enters the room isn't the one that surrounds her now. The vibrations in the ground tells her that Tsunade is sitting at her chair while Shizune is by her side, but there are three more people inside of the office than what she expected._ Is this the squad that's going to be my guards during the trip to Grass?_ She recognises one of them.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Hinata-san."

"O-oha-ayo." The Hyuuga girl answers.

"Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Isozaki Akai, I need to speak with you about something urgent." Tsunade´s determinate voice interrupts the silence. Akai is not there to be sent home, she realises that when the Hokage addresses the three other ninja as well. A frown graces her pale face at this. _Why did she call me over when it isn't about my journey home?_ The two men's gazes at her tell Akai that the two unknown shinobi seems to think the same.

"I presume that you all know about the village´s current situation. Uchiha Sasuke, Orochimaru and his assistant Kabuto have been seen near the Grass village and some of our ANBU saw traces of them close to our boarders."

Akai focuses on Tsunade´s voice as she starts to explain what she already knows to the other three. But she didn't know that they were seen that close to Konoha too. Akai doesn't know as much as these shinobi does about Sasuke but she understands that what he did is unforgivable. He and Orochimaru are a great threat to Konoha as well as her home village.

"Your mission is to guard Konoha´s boarders during 48 hours, two days and nights. I've already sent out shinobi to guard the west ad east side so you'll take south. Any questions?"

_So Team Gai might be one of the teams that are guarding the other sides…__Akai _puts her hand into the air.

"So you want me to help out on this mission?" She asks Tsunade with doubt in her voice.

"Yes." Tsunade answers shortly while preparing some papers.

"Are you sure you want a foreign Kunoichi to run around Konoha´s boarders so freely?" _Do you really want a handicapped girl on this mission…? _"I'm only here to start the alliance."

"Why shouldn't I trust you? _We're _about to start off an alliance with Grass so it's time to start to work together, am I right? And _if_ you decide to backstab us I can assure you that this team is good enough to restrain you."

"…Hai! Understood!"

"Arubame Shino, you're the leader for this mission." Tsunade tells one of the two men.

"Hai."

"_Damn…."_ The other murmurs. _"Why is Shino always the leader?"_

_That must be Inuzuka__ Kiba. _Akai ponders to herself. She tries to focus on the two to get a grip on them, get a picture in her head and an opinion. The one called Aburame Shino seems to be more mature compared to his male team mate, since his voice is deeper and steadier. His body is also heaver than Inuzuka´s and he's probably taller too. She takes a step to her right to send out new vibrations so she can _see _more. The other man is shorter and less heavy but his balanced and confident stance tells her that he's a skilled ninja and stronger than his friend physically while the other seems to be stronger mentally. A silent sigh leaves Akai´s lips; she's glad that Hinata is here so she won't be all alone with two unknown men.

"Here are the papers." Shizune hands Shino two documents.

Shino takes the papers and takes a second glance at them before nodding in silence. Something about this makes her think that he didn't expect that amount of documents. Maybe she's just overanalysing things.

"Everything you need to know is written inside." Tsunade tells Shino. "Read them before you leave Konoha, Shino."

"Hai."

"You're dismissed."

The four of them walks out of the office and Akai starts to feel slightly uncomfortable. She doesn't like to be around new people and now she's literally forced to stay with one girl she barely know and two men she hasn't spoken to before. _Just great should I introduce myself or what?_ Akai decides to play shy so she stays silent. They reach the first floor of the building and the man called Shino stops them in a half circle to inform them about something.

"Go and pack your bags and we'll meet up by the gates in two hours." Is Shino´s first order.

"O-okay." Hinata answers.

"Yeah, yeah. And by the way, nice to meet you Akai-san." Kiba waves with his hand as he walks away from the group. He doesn't seem excited about the mission, but it's more like he isn't excited over having Shino as team leader again. Akai murmurs a quiet _"Nice to meet you too" _and she receives an unexpected nod from Shino. _He's a man of few words. _Akai adds that to her mental portrait of him. She walks off but stops suddenly when a thought strikes her; they didn't comment her looks at all.

* * *

**The **albino´s bag pack is full of necessary things for the mission; like two bottles of sun lotion, a second set of clothes, a sleeping bag, a bowl, her toothbrush, and her shinobi bag that's located on her thigh is full of kunai and shuriken. Her loyal bo-staff lies on the bed and she grabs it as she heads toward the door. It was a while since she was on a mission and the Hokage´s sudden trust makes her excited.

"Konnichiwa Akai."

Akai focuses as the familiar voice greets her. Sending Kumori a smile, Akai descends the stairs with her luggage thrown over her right shoulder. She hands her the key to her room.

"You're here again?"

"Uh-huh. Dad wanted some family time with mother and Rima-chan. So I'm stuck here, _again_." Kumori tells her in an irritated tone, but with a smile lingering on her lips.

"Too bad you can't close the hotel for one day or so, you need a vacation with your family. " Akai tells her in a gentle voice. "I'll be gone for two days; can you keep the key for me?"

"Are you going home?" Kumori asks her in a slightly worried tone.

This surprises Akai. It's as if she doesn't want her to leave Konoha. A warm feeling spreads through her body at this and she smiles unconsciously at the other.

"No, as I said, only for two days. The Hokage gave me a mission."

"Oh….That's great!" Kumori smiles. "Well I don't want to be the lone teenager here, so have a nice trip and hurry back."

"Haha sure."

Akai waves at her friend on her way out. It feels strange to think that way, that she really has made friends on her journey to Konoha, but it makes her happy. A strange happiness she has not felt for a long time. It's very hard to make friends when you're not like everyone else and people who doesn't judge you is hard to find. Akai is happy that she made this trip even though her mother and brother didn't agree to it; she's glad that everything that has happened really happened. She met Uzumaki Naruto, the loudmouthed blonde shinobi and Team 10, she met Shirakawa Kumori and Hyuuga Neji…

"I guess…the people from Konoha can be kinda nice!"

* * *

**When **Akai arrives at the gates Shino and Hinata are already there. She greets them with a simple _Konnichiwa_ and then stays silent while waiting for the last member of their squad. Kiba arrives ten minuets too late but he just shakes his head when Shino complains about it. Akai gets the feeling of that those two are really close, so close that they can't do anything but arguing.

"Let's go." Shino tells them.

Akai nods in silence and starts to move. Making sure that she doesn't walk too close to Hinata or Kiba as they pass through the Konoha gate. But the ground suddenly changes into something soft. Akai frowns as she feels a strange fluffiness against her legs but she doesn't move away until a loud sound breaks the silence. It sounds as a whine. Akai flinches violently by this and her first reaction is to kick whatever it's that's touching her. Her foot collides with something and another sound emerges from the thing.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Kiba growls angrily from her right side. "Akamaru!"

Akai jumps away from the creature and takes forth her bo-staff in case it's dangerous. This seems to anger Kiba further somehow; Akai has no clue why. She positions herself in her fighting stance with her staff in front of her, aimed at the beast's head.

"Do you hate dogs, hah?!"

_A dog? _Akai lower her staff at this. _It can't be a dog, dogs aren't that big! Did I step on the tail?_ Akai opens her eyes to squint at the white, bear like creature, lying at his master's side with a pained expression. Now when Akai sees him for the second time she notices his outlines that sure resemble a dog's. A _very_ big dog.

"Sorry! I didn't see…."

"You didn't notice him?!

"Ano…K-kiba…?" Hinata tries to tell him that Akai can't see that well but she gets no chance to do so since Kiba is really upset.

"How could you NOT notice him!!!?"

"Hey you could at least listen to me when I'm trying to explain!!!" Akai shouts back at him.

"Calm down!" Shino interrupts the quarrel before it turns into a fight. "We've no time for arguments, we're already late. Hurry up."

Akai shivers as she feels how Kiba glares at her before he for the first time obeys the team captain's orders. She glares back. Shino and Kiba, accompanied by the huge dog, continues forward while Akai and Hinata gets left behind a little. _I stepped on his dog's tail? Fuck…I made a fool of myself…_Akai finds herself missing Neji´s company now since she's sure that this misunderstandings would never happen if he was here instead of Kiba. But, the truth is Akai has no clue if Neji owns a dog or not. She can't give Kiba the blame. It was she who didn't notice the dog's presence. This makes her feel rather weak and incapable of being a ninja.

"I-I´m sorry, A-akai-san. Kiba he…"

"It's okay, thanks. I guess I just have to be more careful from now on. Let's go so we won't get too far behind."

Akai and Hinata rushes of toward the forest that's surrounding the village. The light that's able to shine through her eyelids disappears as they move below the large trees. Akai lets her other senses take over and she uses her hearing, sensible touch and nose to guide her in the same direction as the two other on her current team. Shino is running on the ground about 500meters in front while Kiba and his dog jump from branch to branch. _How can that dog be so skilful? And why don't the branches give in under his weight? _Akai´s eyes snap open as she realises why she didn't notice the dog before. Well she didn't focus but the fact is that Akamaru is much lighter than a human being, and he didn't move.

It doesn't take long for them to reach the area they're supposed to guard during 48 hours. Akai gets the picture of that's a small field deep into the forest with a river running through, probably the same river she has seen inside of Konoha. Shino doesn´t wait to give out new orders.

"Hinata and I'll…." Shino starts his orders but stops as he feels how his team mate sends him a death glare. Shino coughs "…Go and collect timber for the camp fire, you two prepare the tents."

"Hai." Akai answers in an uncomfortable tone.

Shino sighs silently for himself, he's glad that his high collar, big hood and sunglasses cover his uncomfortable being. _Kiba is so clueless…._ The Arubame shinobi thinks back at when he read the second document he was given. It was a complete character profile of Isozaki Akai with notes about her handicap, abilities, missions, family and more. He is well informed about her and Hinata seems to somehow know about it too. _Kiba is just too blind to notice._ Akai looks at Hinata´s and Shino´s backs as they disappear. She curses under her breath, why her and Kiba?

"Here." Akai grabs the tent Kiba hands her. "You can prepare it over there and I over here."

"…Sure."

_Okay, a tent…_Akai holds the big cloth thing in her two hands. _Okay…how do I prepare a tent? _Akai sits down and opens the bag; some metal poles fall out and hit the ground. _They must be the thingies you hammer into the ground, right?_ Akai squints to see as she touches the cold poles._ I wish Yoshi was here, he´s good at this stuff. _She can hear how Kiba hits the metal down on the other side of their camp already. A frown appears on her face as she touches the cloth of the tent in search for where she should put the poles.

"Are you finished yet?"

"…Yes." She answers him in a hesitant voice.

Kiba stares at Akai´s so called "tent". The tent she and Hinata are supposed to spend two nights in is a total mess. The roof is not supported by the larger pole at all while the smaller ones make the bottom part look twisted. Kiba frowns at the sight.

"You call that a tent!? It's…. "

"I tried my best…." Akai defends herself quickly.  
"You call yourself a shinobi? Are you sure that the academy gave you permission. Wait I'll help you with that."

Kiba takes over and starts to rearrange the tent. Akai´s quite nice atmosphere changes in the instant Kiba doubted her abilities as a ninja. She approaches him with her arm raised, pointing at his back angrily. She notices how his dog, Akamaru, starts to approach her.

"You're so breaking the limit here, doggy-boy." Akai warns him. "I'm a kunoichi of Grass and I can prove it!"

"Then pro---" Kiba starts to challenge her with a mocking tone, still working at the tent.

SMACK! Akai punches Kiba at the back of his head with her right fist and stops him from uttering those words she doesn't want to hear from him. She sighs as the vibrations in the ground tell her he fell to the ground, probably all over the tent. Akamaru growls angrily at her with bared teeth at this and the animal puts himself in front of his master as a shield.

"WHAT THE ….!!?" Kiba roars at Akai while caressing his now sore head.

"Even I have my limits! Now back of before I get serious!" Akai roars at him. "I said sorry! So why won't you let it go?"

"You kicked my dog that's why! Wasn't it enough that you stepped on his tail? _No_…you just had to kick him too!"

"I friggin´said that I was sorry! I didn't see him! It was an accident! An A-C-C-I-D-E-N-T!" "Who would kick a dog as huge as Akamaru? Who wouldn't notice him?" Kiba starts with irony in his voice. "You…what is wrong with you anyway?"

Akai tenses at this and she stays eerie silent as Kiba approaches her slowly. _What's wrong with her_ he asks, just like many people before him. Everyone thinks something is wrong with her; everybody sees her handicap as…something weak and _wrong_. She does want to fight with Kiba over this, she doesn't know him. Akamaru stops barking suddenly and Kiba sends his comrade a glance; Kiba gets slightly confused by his dog's sudden change of behaviour.

"What's wrong with me you said? Nothing is wrong; I just _love_ to hurt puppies on my missions." She tells him with a very sarcastic tone. "Isn't that obvious?"

"YOU!!!!" No one talks about Akamaru in that way.

Akamaru whines as Kiba charges at Akai with full power. The dog seems to have noticed Akai´s lie but not its master. The albino´s eyes widen a fraction at Kiba´s unexpected action and she reacts quickly by shielding herself from his claws by using her staff. A loud cracking sound echo in her ears and it takes a while for Akai to understand. She breathes in deeply as she focuses to see but what she sees isn't what she hoped for. Her beloved bo-staff is broken into two pieces.

* * *

**AN; Thanks for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed it as I did! SOrry if Kiba is being mean but I bet he would act that way if someone stepped on Akamaru´s tail. Hahaha... read and review if you like. Merry chrismas too everyone. **


	10. Chapter 10

**AN; Thank you for the reviews! On with chapter 10!

* * *

****The **comforting light of the campfire colours the three ninja´s clothes orange. The darkness surrounds them and except the fire, the stars are the only source of light left. The Konoha shinobis sit in silence but the leader decides that's time that all of them get to know about Akai. He and Hinata were lucky that they returned just in time to stop the fight between their two team mates. Akai was really upset about something and she went to take the first shift to guard the boarder without complains. Kiba has been bitter since then. Shino sighs at the two´s behaviour.

"What happened?" He asks at last.

"She insulted Akamaru." Kiba pouts.

"…Is that all?"

Shino sweatdrops at this. He knows that Kiba can become really aggressive when someone hurts his dog but being this stubborn doesn´t help anyone. It´s like the times when Uzumaki Naruto are on their team, the two of them can´t stop fighting over trivial things.

"What do you mean _is that all_? She's a real…."

"Kiba, did you noticed that I got two documents from Tsunade instead of one?" Shino interrupts when his patience is starting to run out.

"Yes, but what has it have to do…"

"It was a character profile, Akai-san´s."

"Eh?"

Shino sighs.

"H-h-ave y-you noticed her h-hair?" Hinata starts. "H-h-er strange…e-eyes?"

"…I thought that was how all the Isozaki members looked. Like a family trait, like your Byakugan."

"She's an albino. Her skin lacks pigment." Shino states the fact.

"So?" Kiba can't see why it should matter.

"This also makes her partly blind."

"She can't see? That explains why she stepped on Akamaru´s tail…." Kiba ponders out loud. "Oh no! I broke her cane!"

* * *

**One **night has passed, that means that it's one night and two days left on their mission. Akai turns around in her sleeping bag but she can't return to the dreamland she just left. The still burning campfire keeps her warm and she notices that Hinata is already up, preparing breakfast. The delicious scent of fried bacon and potatoes makes her stomach grumble of hunger. The sound of Kiba´s snoring disturbs the comfortable silence and Akai presumes that his noise woke her. She pushes herself up into a sitting position.

"Ohayou Hinata-san."

"O-ohayou…"

"It smells really good."

"Oh…Thank you."

Akai moves her fingers through her hair to loose her messy tresses before she pulls it up into a bun. She sends Hinata a smile as she gets up on her feet. Akai reaches out to grab her staff but her fingers touches air. _Oh…that's right…_Her pale fingers twitch before she puts them in her pockets. Her bo-staff was destroyed yesterday by the snoring moron over there. She focuses on Kiba´s loud inhales and exhales of breath for a moment. _…That baka. _

"…I'll go and wash my face by the river, I'll be back soon."

Akai moves towards the pouring sound of the river and the feeling of not having her staff near makes her feel naked and unarmed. That staff used to belong to her father, it was her first weapon. The cold water against her hot skin sends a shiver down her spine.

It doesn´t take long for her to notice how a second presence is approaching her from behind and the persons steps and weight tells her who it´s immeadiatly.

"Akai-san" Kiba calls out to her.

"Oh, you're awake …"

Akai tells him that she knows that he´s there but she continues to wash her face ignoring the other. She rearranges her long fringe so it won´t bother her by slipping the long strands behind her ear neatly.

" I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to break your staff…" Kiba starts to apologise out of the blue.

"Okay…?"

Akai pulls her hair into a ponytail before she turns to face Kiba. His apologise sounds rather strange in her ears and she wonders if he has a second motive behind it. _Why did he decide to say sorry now? Yesterday I got the feeling of that he would rather die than apologise..._Akai frowns when she realises that his dog is there with him; it was hard to _see_ him this time too.

"You'll forgive me?" Kiba asks her after some time.

"That staff was quite important to me…" She murmurs still quite uncertain.

"Yeah, I know than now." Kiba hurries to tell her. "I had no clue about it so I just...ya know? Some say that I´m quite hot headed."

_What do he think he´s knowing?_ Akai ponders to herself. The Grass ninja flinches by the sudden touch of Akamaru´s fur against her leg. Kiba whispers something to his dog under his breath but the large animal continues to move around Akai as he´s asking for her to pet him. She touches Akamaru´s head lightly in a rather hesitant way.

"I´m sorry for stepping on your tail...and kicking you. You just surprised me. I´m not used to animals small as you."

"..small?"

"Well, compared to my team mate´s horses, yes."

Akamaru barks and Kiba seems to understand this more than Akai does. He grins broadly and approaches her further until both of them are petting the dog. The tense atmosphere around them gets more comfortable.

"I´ll forgive you if you forgive me for what I did, Kiba-san. But I won´t forget it. That staff..."_ Everyone deserved a second chance..._

"I forgive you and don´t worry. I´m gonna help you from now on so you won´t need a cane. Here. Let´s return to the camp."

Kiba grabs Akai´s arm and starts to walk with her towards Hinata. _Oh no...He doesn´t assume that I...?_Akai´s friendly smile fades a fraction as she regards the others actions.

"Kiba-san. I don´t need any help." She tries to tell him in a friendly tone.

"But you can´t see right? So I´m gonna make sure that you won´t run into trees and stuff. Trust me."

"Honestly, I don´t need any of your help at all! Just pay me for the bo-staff or something."

Akai pulls her arm away from Kiba´s grasp before she dashes of toward the camp ahead of the Konoha shinobi. Akai´s in no mood for arguing with him about her handicap any longer, she just wants this mission over with._ Why is everything so complicated?_

The day went by slowly since nothing really happened and before they knew it; it was time to go to bed.

* * *

**When** Shino arrived the next morning after his guard shift he had new news about the situation and about the other teams guarding the boarder. Akai listens carefully since she´s sure about that Neji and his team is one of the teams who are on the same mission as they´re.

"The team who guides at the north has found several traps, as if the ones who has been there wants to check if someone has passed through. The enemy lingers not too far away but they keeps a safe distance." Shino tells them while reading a paper that his bugs brought back to him a little bit earlier.

"They´re watching Konoha´s moves from a distance?" Kiba asks his team mate.

"Exactly."

"B-but w-why?" Hinata questions their motives.

"They´re waiting for the perfect time to strike." Shino explains to the others, it is what he believes.

"But I thought...well...I just don´t get it." Kiba starts. "Akai-san, you met them near your village, right?"

"Yes."

"And now they´re here...what are they after?" Kiba questions. "The Kyuubi?"

"N-n-naruto-kun?" Hinata stutter slightly panicked.

"I thought Akatsuki were the ones looking for them, why would Orochimaru want him?"

"The question might be; why would Uchiha Sasuke want the Kyuubi?" Shino starts to play with his thoughts. He´s well aware of that the former Konoha shinobi had a strong relationship with the blonde Uzumaki and he believes that it might be something about their past.

"So the traps are set to see if someone, like Naruto, left the village?"

"It might be that way." Shino agrees.

"It still feels wrong." Akai tells them. "When I saw them fight..." She gets lost in her thoughts while remembering the Sharingan boy and the first time she met Uzumaki Naruto.

"It´s too easy."Kiba agrees. "Sure Sasuke and Naruto were best friends but this is just taking things too far. Let´s wait till we´ve more information before we jump to conclutions."

"H-hai." Hinata agrees, she doesn´t want to think that Sasuke is after her secret crush. It scares her. Akai shares her feelings for her first friend from Konoha. But Akai´s gut feeling tells her that what the others believe is totally wrong. She has no clue why.

"We are also demanded to move a little to the west before heading home. So get ready."

"Eh?...why?"

"Orders are orders."

* * *

**So** the four of them, plus Akamaru, starts to pack their belongings again in a way of preparing their departure. Akai avoids the tents since her last try with them didn´t end well instead she´s deleting the signs of them being here. Like taking away their campfire, hiding their scents and chakra traces that linger in the grass. Kiba and Shino are packing the tents in silence while Hinata joins Akai.

"Ano A-akai-san."

"Mm?"

"Do you t-think they a-are after N-naruto-kun?"

"Seriously, I don´t know. Sorry."

Akai keeps on destroying their chakra pattern and she feels that the younger Hyuuga helps her from a distance. Her worry for Naruto makes Akai wonder about the two´s relationship and she can´t help but ask the girl about it.

"Hinata-san, do you like Naruto? Really like him?" Akai can´t see the enormous blush growing on the Hyuuga´s cheeks but her abrupt silence tells her what she needs to understand the other to a certain point. "Don´t worry. I won´t tell him but you should join us when we eat ramen sometime, maybe I can help you get closer to him."

"A-arigatou!" Hinata stutters happily.

Akai grins a little but it fades as she comes to think of the older Hyuuga.

"I need to ask you something...Neji has been down lately, do you know why?"

"Neji-nii-san has? Oh..."

"You know the reason?" Akai pushes on gently.

"Y-yes but it´s ...r-rather personal so..."Hinata hesitates. "H-he didn´t tell you w-why?"

"No, we decided to meet after his mission to talk... I just can´t figure out what to do to make him...less sad." Akai sits down in the grass and sighs. "It´s hard to understand him sometimes." She touches her forehead in thought.

"Neji-nii-san d-doesn´t open u-u-up to just anyone..." Hinata starts talking while joining Akai in the grass. "But I-I´ve seen that he t-trusts you. E-everything w-will surely become c-clear when y-you meet again."

"...I hope I´ll be able to be there for him somehow." Akai murmurs.

"Hey, girls are you done?" Kiba yells from the other side of the camp interrupting their girl talk..

"E-eh hai!" Hinata answers slightly surprised.

She hurries to her feet but sends Akai a small smile as she does so. Hinata is glad that her cousin has met someone like her, a girl who won´t talk to him because of his good looks or status in the society. She is also glad that Akai has managed to make Neji more friendly, he´s almost the Neji she remembers from her childhood, before his father was killed. Sure, her and Neji´s relationship is better now but it´s not as it was back then. Kiba walks over to Akai.

"Akai-san I can take those bags for you." He´s referring to her pair of bags with clothes and weapons.

Akai gets on her feet and shakes her head with a small smile on her lips.

"I´m perfectly able of carrying my own luggage, but thank you."

"I insist."

Kiba grabs the bags without her agreement and Akai is quick to grab the other handle to stop him. She´s used to people pitying her when the first get the knowledge of her handicap but that doesn´t make her less motivated to prove herself. Kiba frowns a little at Akai´s behaviour.

"I said no thank you." Akai tells him in a forced, friendly tone.

"K-kiba-kun, she c-can carry them b-by herself!" Hinata interferes when she sees how the two of them glares at each other..

" Hinata. She´s blind! We need to help her." Kiba turns to Hinata and makes gestures with his hands to explain.

" I appreciate it but I`M NOT THAT BLIND! " Akai tries to make it clear. "Kiba-san I´ll carry my stuff and I don´t need help to avoid the trees. I can see in a different way that you. Please don´t underestimate me. Do you understand?"

Kiba doesn´t dare to say anything else than a yes when Akai literally sends him a death glare. Akai nods before she turns around, grabs her two bags, and jumps into the nearest tree to later proceed forward in search for more traces of their visit here. Kiba looks at her back with his mouth partly open. He never thought that a blind person could jump like that without falling! The dog boy turns to Hinata for an explaination.

"Hinata, you knew that didn´t you? Why didn´t you tell me?"

Hinata´s expression turns into a troubled one so Shino answers instead of her. The bug user had silently sneaked up to them during Kiba´s conversation with Akai and his other two team mates flinch by his sudden speech.

"We thought you would notice."

Kiba looks at him for a moment before everything becomes clear to him. He hits himself and sighs.

"Oh gosh I´ve made a fool of myself all this time! And it´s _your_ fault!" Kiba glares at Shino.

"My fault? You're just a living example of that a person with splendid sight can miss to see the obvious."

Kiba flinches; bulls eye.

* * *

**The** four of them moves side by side through the high grass. Akamaru walks in front of them using his very sensible nose to track down the strange scent in the breeze. Akai hears how Kiba inhales deeply trying to help his dog. She has no clue how the Inuzuka clan´s senses can be just like a dogs, it's amazing. Akai tenses as a bunch of small birds leave the trees at the same time. The albino stops walking at this and she focuses on what it might be that scared them. A bird that flees isn't a good sign. A cold feeling invades her body telling every nerve inside of her that something isn't right about this place. She takes a step, letting the vibrations show her a black and white picture of the terrain in front of them. Several strange spots confuse her. She's just about to inform Shino as a loud click reaches her. Her blue eyes snap open.

"Don't move!!!"

Her three team mates stop in their tracks at her sudden outburst. Shino sends her a glance and is quick to understand that something isn't as it should be; he follows her example and stays still. Hinata and Kiba do the same, Akamaru too but all of them look at Akai with confused expressions in waiting for a explaination. Akai ignores them as she stomps her right foot once more to _see. _Her misty blue eyes narrow as she understands the situation.

"Akamaru, stay still. Don't move an inch."

"What?" Kiba shouts out. "What's wrong?"

Akai walks slowly towards the large white dog and she kneels down by his side, touching the metal thing the dog accidentally has pushed down. A suffocating feeling reaches her as the realisation hits her. The feeling grows deeper as Akamaru whines in a low, frightened tone; he has seen the trap. Akai caresses the dog in a gentle way with slow strokes to calm him and herself down.

"Akai-san?" Shino utters more like a demand for an explanation than a question.

Akai looks at Shino for a moment before she turns the Hyuuga.

"Hinata-san."

"H-hai?"

"Use your Byakugan, tell me how many you can see."

"See what?" Kiba wants to know what´s happening since his dog´s fear is starting to scare him too.

Akai closes her eyes at this and she feels how Akamaru starts to tremble, he's scared. She doesn't know how she can tell Kiba that his dog and all of them has stepped into a field full of traps used for hunting wild animals. That if they move, if Akamaru moves, his whole leg will be chopped off.

"Byakugan!" It doesn't take long before Hinata notices and a loud gasp leaves her lips. "They're e-e-verywhere…d-dozens of them!"

"What?"

"Foothold traps…used for illegal bear hunts." Akai states in a quiet voice. "It must be the traps the other team mentioned, used to see if someone leaves Konoha..."

"BEAR TRAPS???!!!" Kiba howls in panic.

"DON'T MOVE!!!!" Akai nearly growls at him. "If Akamaru moves, even a little bit, the trap will cut off his limb. Don't risk it Kiba!"

"…W-what should we do?"

Hinata´s sentence doesn´t end before her team mate dashes forward to save his dog from the trap.

"No KIBA!!" Shino shouts.

Kiba can´t wait any longer. His beloved dog is in great danger and a blind girl tells him to wait and doing nothing? He rushes over the field in a quick peace. His eyes narrow as he feels how he accidentally kicks something cold and hard, another loud click is heard. This makes him stop dead in his tracks.

"FUCK!"

Akai´s eyes widen as her sensible ears pick up sound of how the bear traps, one by one, starts to close by Kiba´s touch; just like a chain reaction. Kiba closes his eyes in his wait for pain; he doesn't want to hear how Akamaru whines as it happens and he doesn't want to live through it. He and his dog are going to lose their legs just like that. But the pain doesn´t reach him as he expected it to. As Kiba opens his eyes he notices how a single kunai keeps the trap from chopping off his foot. A kunai with the Grass´s green ribbon on.

Akai doesn´t hesitate to throw herself towards Akamaru to get him out of the trap. His fluffy white fur tickles her nose as they touch and luckily her bodyweight is enough to send the big dog out of balance. The two of them falls, and the trap clicks once more before the sharp blades meets with a loud ka-ching. The Grass kunoichi feels no pain since adrenaline is pumping through her veins and it takes some time for her to understand that she succeeded in helping Akamaru. He isn't hurt; his four legs are still attached to his body. A deep breath that she didn't know she was holding leaves her lips as a loud sigh of relief. She turns to Hinata.

"Hinata-san?"

The lavender haired Hyuuga uses her clan´s bloodline limit to see. "N-nearly all of them are c-c-closed now… don't move too… much to your right."

Akamaru whines in relief at this and he gets up on his feet slowly, as if he's testing if they're still there before he dashes of in Kiba´s direction. Kiba falls to his knees as his dog runs over to him and he hugs Akamaru close to his body. The fear of losing him fades slowly, the desperation, and despair disappears as he holds Akamaru. The warm, ragged breath tickles his ear. The kunai that holds the trap open falls to the ground seconds later and the trap closes in a dangerous speed and it´s closed with a loud metallic sound. Kiba stares at it with wide eyes while Akamaru licks him in the face.

"Akai-san, are you hurt?" Shino asks her.

"I'm fine."

Akai gets up to her feet and brushes of the dirt on her clothes.

"You're bleeding."

Akai mind goes blank at Shino´s statement. The constant beating of her heart and the rush of adrenaline seems to make it impossible for her to detect her injury. Fear strikes her once again, but she fears for her own safety this time. She saved Akamaru but did the trap get her? She can't feel it, she can't see it and the constant throbbing of her heart drowns her other emotions or sensations. _Is my…leg still there? _She doesn´t notice how Shino approaches her in her confusion and she gasps as he takes her arm and pulls her to her feet.

"Your arm."

"…M-my arm??" Akai asks him in a panicked voice. "Is it gone?"

"No… the trap seems to have scratched you. Nothing serious." Shino smirks at Akai´s reaction.

Akai sighs deeply at this in a relieved manner before she starts to chuckle at it all. Shino looks at her with a puzzled expression thinking that she has gone mad. Akai waves her hand at him with a smile telling him that she´s fine.

"Let´s head home and report this to your Hokage." Akai suggests.

* * *

**The **trip home didn´t take long since they all travelled in silence and without any unnecessary breaks. The bear trap incident seems to have drained them all somehow; none of them wanted to talk about it. Shino and the rest of team 8 went to talk to the Hokage while Akai excused herself at the gates and went home.

Akai mutters under her breath as she enters her hotel. She didn´t notice it before but the sun must have been too strong for her during the mission, or did she forget to put on sun protection? Either way, her skin is aching and throbbing under her clothes. The cold door handle feels awesome against her burning skin as she grabs it and enters.

"Welcome home!" A happy voice calls out to her.

"Tadaima!" Akai answers as she recognises the voice as Kumori`s.

Akai walks over to the disk and Kumori hands her the key to her room without her asking her to. Akai is about to say something when a pair of heavy steps enter the room behind Kumori, she assumes that this man is her father.

"Oh! This must be Akai-san. It´s a pleasure to meet Kumori´s friend!"

Akai smiles at the man.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Father..." Kumori complains in a long tone.

"Well I can take care of the Hotel so girls go and do something girls would do!"

"Eh?"

Kumori sighs at her father´s behaviour but she nods at last. The dark haired young woman takes Akai´s hand and leads her to her room. Akai doesn't really know what´s happening but she doesn´t question it. The two girls step into the room in silence; Kumori sits down at her bed while Akai starts to unpack her bags.

"How did the mission go?" Kumori asks her.

"It went ok but a certain dog boy got on my nerves..." Akai mutters. With a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Haha." Kumori chuckles. "You seem to have enjoyed it though, you can´t stop smiling."

"Yeah...right." Akai smiles. "It was my first mission here, I didn´t think that the Hokage trusted me that much. It makes me kinda...happy."

"You really love being a ninja." Kumori utters like a statement.

Akai kneels down at the floor as she unpacks her weapons and her smile fades a little for the first time. Her pale fingers touch her broken bo-staff gently, tracing the small details in the wood slowly to at last touch the sharp edge of it. _It can´t be fixed..._Akai puts the broken tool down before she joins Kumori._ How will I be able to fight without it? I can buy a new one but it won´t be the same..._

"The way of the Ninja is my life." Akai tells her in a silent voice. "Without it I would..."

Kumori glances at Akai but is quick to understand that the girl doesn´t want sympathy or pity. Kumori punches Akai lightly on her shoulder in a friendly way.

"Then I guess you just have to train and become stronger. Blood, sweat and tears, you know?"

"Haha, yes." Akai agrees with a smile at her lips once again. "How have yo...."

A sudden knock on the door interrupts her. Akai looks at the closed door with a big question mark at her forehead. No one knocks at her door except Kumori; who can it be? _Neji? No...it´s still not that late and how would he know where I live?_ A disappointed sigh leaves her lips as she slowly opens the door.

"Akai-san!"

"K-kiba?" Akai is surprised over hearing the dogboy´s loud voice at the doorway.

Kumori leans at her place at the bed to get a glimpse of her friends visitor but she leans back quickly as the guest invites himself. Akai steps back as Kiba walks into her room with Akamaru close behind, her misty eyes follow their movements. Kiba looks really bothered by something and he is just about to say something as he notices Kumori there and stops. His stressed expression grows at the sight of her there.

"Oh sorry I didn´t know you had a guest." Kiba excuses himself. "Hello."

"Hello." Kumori answers in an amused tone.

Akai sighs as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Kiba-san, why are you here?"

"You see..." Kiba turns to Akai, but his gaze wanders to the broken staff at the floor. "..I came to apologise."

"I thought we already discussed this." Akai mutters rather coldly.

"And to say thank you. You saved us back there, Akai."

Kumori looks at the two with interest; this is way more interesting than those television shows! She pets Akamaru gently. Akai look at Kiba with a raised brow since he left out the "_–san"_ that he always adds at her name. Kiba growls a little at Akai silence.

"Okay, I admit that I´m not good at these things but please forgive me for everything. I was so damn clueless! _Fuck,_ I didn´t even realize your condition, skills or anything before it was _too_ late!"

"I think you should forgive him, Akai. He seems to be pretty serious." Kumori tells her with a grin in Kiba´s direction. _What happened on her mission, anyway?_

"Kiba I´ve already forgiven you." Akai sighs. "And I wanted to save Akamaru back there, not you." She tells him in a joke like manner.

"Hahah. You were really awesome back there If you didn´t...my leg would be..."

Akai smiles at this; Kiba is accepting her and has seen her skills as a ninja at last. Akamaru barks happily and Kumori can´t help but smile at the two ninja. The burden on Akai´s shoulders fade slowly and she´s able to laugh together with her two friends.

* * *

**Akai** leans against the sakura tree as she waits for Neji to arrive. Her aching limps and burning skin tells her that her mission will cause her misery tomorrow, something she doesn´t look forward to. The wind plays with her hair and she enjoys the calmness and silence around her.

Akai opens her eyes as she feels how a shadow towers over her and when she opens her eyes she notice the outlines of the young man she waited for. She had hoped that Neji would seem less troubled when they meet again but he´s as tense as back before and even her poor eyes can see dark circles under his eyes. A lump of pain grows in her chest at this.

"You look like a corpse." Akai tells him bluntly instead of a normal _konnichiwa.

* * *

_**AN; So end of chapter. I hope you liked it. What´s wrong with Neji? Hum...what do you think? It´ll be shown in chaper 11. I know that many don´t like OC stories but I would love to get reviews with all kinds of thoughts, remarks, qustions etc... Everything than can help me imrove my english and this story. Hope you want to help me with this. I´m also glad to tell you that this story is all done in my head, so I just have to write it down now. Drama here we come! **


	11. Chapter 11

**AN; Thank you for your reviews! Im glad that you liked the last chapter and I hope you´ll like this one too. Some AkaixNeji fluff up ahead and the reason behind Neji´s troubled expresion will be explained. Enjoy!

* * *

****Akai** leans against the sakura tree while she waits for Neji to arrive. Her aching limbs and burning skin tells her that her mission will cause her misery tomorrow, something she doesn't look forward to. Itchy skin is never something you should look forward to. The wind plays with her blonde hair and she enjoys the calmness and silence around her.

Akai opens her eyes as she feels how a shadow towers over her and she notices the outline of the young man she waited for. She had hoped that Neji would seem less troubled when they meet again but he´s as tense as back then and even her poor eyes can see the dark circles under his eyes. A lump of pain grows in her chest at this.

"You look like a corpse." Akai tells him bluntly instead of a normal _konnichiwa._

"Hn..."

Neji sits down in a gracious manner by her side and Akai closes her eyes as she feels that he's totally seated. His arm touches hers slightly, white cloth against green, the small contact is pleasant.

"I heard you went with team 8 on a mission." He asks her calmly, but still unable to sound totally relaxed in her ears.

"Hai, I returned earlier today. How did your mission go?"

"Smoothly." He answers in an unemotional voice, but Akai sees through his mask and recognises his tone as tiredness. Akai realises that talking about what has been troubling Neji is impossible in the state he's in. A thought lingers in hear head but it takes a while before she dares to suggest it.

"Neji." She addresses him in a gentle way, without any _kun _or _san_ to gain his attention. When she feels that his eyes are on her she taps her tights lightly as an invitation. "This is a onetime offer you know..."

Akai isn't sure that she hides her nervousness well enough but Neji´s silence isn't helping her to do so. She gets more uneasy as time goes by but she´s able to swallow a gasp as the vibrations in the ground tells her that her training partner inches closer slowly.

She never thought that the proud Hyuuga Neji would take her offer but now she´s sitting with his head in her lap. Akai feels how he glances up at her warily while still being very tense and alert. Deciding to try to make this a less edgy situation she starts to run her fingers through his hair in a calming manner. Neji makes no move to stop her whatsoever. The long dark strands feel like silk against her fingers and she becomes slightly envious. Her hair won't become that smooth, no matter what shampoo she uses. Akai snaps out of her thoughts as she hears how a deep sigh leaves Neji´s lips as he finally relaxes against her. A small smile grows on her lips. She continues to touch his hair and massage his head softly.

"I thought about what you said last time we met." Neji utters calmly with his eyes closed.

Akai recalls how she told him about her goal, her dream and her ninja way. How she accidentally told him about her weaknesses and fears and her life back in Grass. It embarrasses her a little now as she recalls it but she shrugs it off. But he might also mean that he´s thinking about the short conversation they had before he left Konoha. Or both.

"You should get some sleep." Akai avoids the subject and focuses on Neji instead. "We can speak later."

They sit in silence under the sakura tree that they´ve used as a meeting place for their earlier meetings. The soft wild makes the small branches move and Akai enjoys the calming sound if it all. The warm feeling of Neji´s body against hers keeps her from shivering. She continues to run her fingers through his hair soothingly, slowly pushing him towards the dreamland. Neji´s breathing becomes deeper as he at last fall to sleep with his cheek against her lap as if he´s seeking her warmth. The amount of trust he shows Akai surprises her, who would have thought that Hyuuga Neji would fall asleep like this some weeks earlier? A small blush grows at her cheeks at the thought.

* * *

**Akai **opens her eyes after a while and looks at the young man in her lap. Even though he´s so close to her she´s still unable to see how he looks like. When thinking of Neji she _sees_ a man dressed in white, with quite pale skin, dark long hair and a pair of stunning all-seeing eyes but his face is so blurry to her. All the details are too small for her to notice. Akai has never wanted to see him like others do before but she feels the urge to just touch his face and _see._

Her fingers touch the cold surface of his headband protector and her thoughts wander to the mark that she knows is covered by it. Would she be able to see it properly? She trails the lines of the leaf symbol with her finger; feeling the foreign sign against her skin. Akai has never felt the need to know how people looked, the only people she sees like that are her family. _The voice is enough…the touch is enough…_Akai is about to touch Neji´s cheek but she stops herself halfway.

Not being able to see properly has always bothered her somehow. It has always kept her from doing what everyone else can do, what most people take for granted. _Neji…he can see, better than anyone._ Akai closes her eyes. Through all these years she has tried to tell herself that she´ll be okay without her sight. That it´s nothing to be sad about but now she understands that without it she´ll miss so many things. Like artists use to say; "A painting is overall nice but it´s the details that makes it beautiful." But she can't see them, is she missing the beautiful parts of life?

_It could have been worse. _Is her comfort. _There are so many people who are totally blind…or paralyzed, deaf, in a coma…Albinism isn't that…bad!_ Akai forces herself to think about something else. She can´t act like this when Neji might have been through something that's making him seems that tired and troubled. Akai recalls her conversation with Hinata, how she said that Neji trusts her and that everything will become clear soon. Akai doesn't know what to believe.

She turns her attention to Neji again. His breathing is still deep and slow; he´s sleeping restfully. A sudden chill makes her shiver and the breeze forces the hair on her arms stand up to keep her warm. Akai opens her eyes to see that the sun has long ago gone down near the horizon and darkness has surrounded them. The wind has turned from nice and comfortable to slightly cold. _Maybe I should wake him up…_She ponders. _But he…seems so peaceful._ Akai decides against it. She knows that what the Hyuuga needs right now is a good amount of sleep.

_So many people have been through things that´s darker than mine…_Akai touches Neji´s hair carefully. The man in front of her has been through a lot, she knows that and she can´t help but feel for him. _Two caged birds…so ironic._ A small chuckle leaves her lips, or something like a small snarl; the sound is hard to put a name on. _I want to protect this bird from the ones that hurts him. I want to open that cage for him. _Without Akai noticing, her hands wander over the Hyuuga´s face softly. His surprisingly long eyelashes tickle her skin; his nose is smaller than she thought…his skin is flawless. Her long piano fingers stops as they reach his lips.

"What are you doing?"

His sharp voice cuts through the silence and the suddenness of it makes her withdraw her hands in panic. Neji seems to be able to grab one of her wrists somehow as if he´s trying to stop her. Her heart beats like she has just ran a Marathon Akai stares down at the man looking up at her with his eyes open directed at her. He moves out of her lap slowly and gets into a sitting position next to Akai without letting go of her wrist. His tenseness is back; full force.

"I…was trying to see." Akai explains to him in a quiet voice. She wants to make him relax again and apologize for her mistake. "I was trying to see your face."

Akai avoids his eyes by closing her own and leaning back against the tree behind her. Almost as if she´s waiting for some kind of punishment from him. Neji´s burning touch makes her uneasy but she can´t help but notice that his hand is rather large and that his palm is formed like as if he´s been fighting with weapons all his life. He lets go of her after a moment of silence.

"I´m sorry, did I wake you?"

Neji doesn't answer the question but the tenseness in his shoulders disappear slowly. Akai sees this as a good thing and she decides to not speak further about _her touching him_ subject. An owl´s cry above them catches her attention and she sees this as a confirmation that it´s now nighttime. Akai shivers by the loss of Neji´s warmth unconsciously. The Hyuuga are on his feet suddenly.

"I´ll walk you home."

* * *

**Neji **and Akai walks side by side down the street toward the center of Konoha. Several lampposts are colouring the small stands giving them a small amount of light. The streets are empty but some shinobi are out on guard duty, Neji seems to know some of them since he utters a small _konbanwa _from time to time.

Akai shows Neji the way toward the Hotel calmly but on the inside she´s struggling with herself. She had asked Neji to meet her because something is troubling him but the only thing she has achieved by this meeting is that he at least got some sleep. She knows that she can´t force him to tell her but a thought lingers; she made the first step in telling him that he could talk to her, now it´s his turn to take the next step. If he wants to that´s it.

The lights around them fade as they slowly walks from Konoha´s more expensive and luxurious area to where the criminals hide, where the poor run for shelter. No it´s not _that _bad but close. The voices from the guards fade slowly by each step they take.

"Another set of twins was born into the Hyuuga clan recently." Neji starts talking out of the blue.

Akai, who is rather surprised that he talked to her, turns her full attention to the man walking beside her; her mind is already getting where this is going. Naruto told her once about his battle against Neji in their Chuunin exam and the story he told him.

"My father was also a twin but since he was born after his brother, the current clan leader, he was marked with…" Neji stops talking for a moment. "That´s why I´m in the lower house while Hinata-sama is in the main house."

Akai focuses on Neji in silence. _So this is what he´s been thinking about?_ Hinata was right; this is sure something very personal for both Neji and her. It has become quite easy for Akai to tell when Neji is relaxed or not and now it´s crystal-clear that he´s alert and tense. His voice is so dark and cold that it almost sends shivers down her spine.

"Seeing those two, small children while knowing what future…" Neji has never been a person who easily could talk about things like this. "It's like what happened back then is repeating itself."

Akai has waited for this moment when the proud Hyuuga would open up to her but now when it´s happening she feels lost. She can understand his pain but how can she make him feel better? How can she solve this problem for him? Akai has to be very careful with how she acts next since she gets the feeling of that if she takes a wrong turn now, Neji would lose his trust in her.

"But…weren't they separated because of that one of them had to become the heir of the clan? The newborn children can't be in the same situation since…" Akai ponders out loud. While trying to grasp what he told her.

"It´s not that easy." Neji frowns clearly indicating that he doesn't want to explain it further. "The Hyuuga council wants it that way."

Akai can feel the man´s anger and sadness. She tries to make it better again by telling him her opinion and thoughts about it. Hoping that it would somehow help him.

"The future can always be changed, Neji." Akai tells him reassuringly. "Humans fight as much as they can till their fate is revealed."

Without really noticing it she and Neji start to walk slower towards her Hotel. Both of them are more focused on their conversation than where they´re going. Neji´s full attention is directed on Akai now and those eyes of his are glued at her face. This makes her a little uneasy but she continues on in hope that she expresses herself the right way.

"Naruto told me that when he becomes Hokage he will make it stop, he will ban that jutsu once and for all." Akai turns to look at Neji with a convinced smile on her face. "We can´t decide someone's fate. Hinata-san´s father and his generation go by their traditions and rules while we, who live now, have our own thoughts about the matter. The children you´re talking about, their options might change and be different than the ones your father had. They´re still babies and that jutsu will be preformed when their older, right? I believe that the people here in Konoha can change just as the Hyuuga clan´s point of view can."

Akai doesn't know if her words reached him, but they make sense to her.

"You just have to believe in them, your fellow shinobi." Akai adds at last.

Neji doesn't say anything after that and the two of them continues in silence. Akai feels that she has done everything she could and is content with her answer, so she directs her focus to her surroundings. It won't take long for them to reach their destination.

"Here it is."

Akai makes a simple gesture with her hand as they reach the Hotel. Neji stops walking and let his eyes wander over the place before he faces her.

"You're free tomorrow?" Akai asks him.

"Yes."

"Then I suggest that you use that time to sleep." Akai smiles gently. "Neji, don't think too much about it."

Akai doesn't know what happened but she´s all of a sudden caught in Neji´s enchanting eyes. He looks at her so calmly in a comfortable manner that makes her feel…different. An emotion that has been lurking around in the pit of her stomach rages at this and she´s caught off guard by the mere feeling. Something about this also tells her that she was able to help him somehow.

"Thank you." He tells her in a sincere voice. "Good night."

"Good night." Akai smiles.

* * *

**A **loud knock on the door interrupts Akai´s sleep and she groans into her pillow. The Grass shinobi ignores the disturbing noise by turning her back against the sound of it. But whoever it´s on the other side of the door the person doesn't give up that easily. The knocking gets louder and louder by each passing second.

"Hey, wake up! Don't force me to use my spare key!" A strangely familiar voice threatens from the corridor.

"Kumori….?" Akai groans with her head under her pillow.

After a while Akai turns around in her bed while pinching herself slightly; is this a dream? It's too early! This day was supposed to be a _sleep as long as you want_ day but she´s forced to open wake up anyway! What sane person would do this to her? Another load groan leaves her mouth in a complaining manner.

"What do you want?" Akai howls. "I know we are friends and all but waking me up this early is not…Acceptable."

Akai forces herself to sit up while yawning. Her blonde hair is a mess and she looks rather tired and above all; pissed.

"Sorry! You've got a guest here who is insisting on meeting you _now_." A loud sound is heard out side. "Please Akai! He´s crazy!! Come out!"

"Akai-chiyaaaan!" A loud voice interrupts Kumori and Akai´s eyes narrow at the tone of it. She's certain, it's…"…Naruto? You're kidding me!"

Akai frowns in irritation as she realizes who it's but she can't hide her joy with the sudden and all too early visit. She asked herself before what sane person could do this but now she got her answer; Uzumaki Naruto. Akai is about to unlock the door when she notices that she's only clad in a t-shirt. Relived that she didn't open it she hurries over to pull on her shorts and a thicker jumper before she greets her two friends. She opens the door and is greeted by two pair of eyes looking at her, one of them are framed by a pair of red glasses.

"So what's the point in waking me this early? Heh?" She asks the two of them in a quite irritated voice.

"This ehm…kid insisted that he had to see you, sorry but I couldn't make him leave."

Kumori starts to explain how the blonde ninja appeared out of nowhere when she was preparing the Hotel so she could open the gates in one hour. She saw how he jumped around outside the door, knocking like a mad man. She thought of ignoring him since it was still too early for the Hotel to open but he didn't stop bothering her from the outside. Kumori describes how she opened the door to tell him what he wanted and her voice gets higher as she comes to the part when Naruto literally passed by her in the doorway.

"I see. So Naruto what do you want? It must be something really important for you to come all the way here… by the way, how did you find me? I haven't told you about where I'm staying."

Akai turns her attention to Naruto as he scratches the back of his head. Kumori snorts at his childish behavior but the next thing she utters is in a more teasing voice than a harmful one.

"Honestly Akai, You should be more careful about the people you hang with. " Kumori glances at Naruto. " You seem to like the strangest types."

"Oi, what do you mean by that dattebayo?" Naruto complains. "Who are you by the way?"

"Shirakawa Kumori at your service!" Kumori salutes him as they do in the army.

"Hfm. Kiba told me about your room here." Naruto decides to ignore the black haired girl.

"Kiba did?" Akai asks him with doubt in her voice, the dog boy was her just yesterday…"you know Inuzuka Kiba?"

"Yeah we're old buddies from the Academy." He tells her like it's should be something obvious to her. "But enough about that, there's something I just have to show you, Dattebayo!"

Naruto grabs Akai´s arm and is just about to pull her of somewhere when Kumori saves her. She grabs Akai´s other hand and forces the two to stop in their tracks. A deep sigh leaves her lips.

"Naruto-san, you can't force her to leave the Hotel dressed like that. Where are you going anyway?"

"To Ichiraku Ramen, I heard that they'll serve free meals today!"

"Sorry to inform you about this but, they open at noon on Saturdays and…" Kumori takes a pause while she checks her wrist watch."…She's 6 a.m now."

Kumori grins at Akai and Naruto as she passes them by, clearly staying out from what she knows might come. She walks down to the first floor where she continues to open the Hotel.

"Naruto…" Akai whispers his name in a really scary voice.

"…Hai?" He hesitates to answer.

"Why the _hell_ did you wake me up that **early**!?" Akai roars.

"Gomen!" Naruto looks at Akai with a panicked expression on his face before he gets on his knees, puts his hands together in a prayer like manner towards her. He stays silent for a while until he dares to open his eyes to look at his friend. "…I guess I got too worked up, hah?"

But the answer he gets is Akai´s door closed with a BANG in front of his face. Naruto is about to question her when she tells him:

"I get the point, Naruto. I´ll meet you at Ichiraku Ramen at noontime. Now I'm going to bed. End of story."

* * *

**Akai** can't deny that she feels thrilled as she walks toward the ramen stand where she´ll meet Naruto. She hasn't met him for some while, if you exclude this morning, and the thought of being around him makes her smile. She needs something to cheer her up and clear her mind after her serious talk with Neji and her mission. Naruto is the perfect person for that task.

When Akai reaches Ichiraku Naruto is already there. He sits at his usual seat and has put his bag at the chair next to him as if he's saving it for her. Akai doesn't notices this until he offers her the seat though, she accepts it in silence. The warm air from the kitchen welcomes her gently and she enjoys everything about the place. The smell, her chair, the soft light from the lamps and of course; the people working there she likes all of it. The chef hands her a bowl of ramen and she smiles.

"It's on the house today! Eat as much as you like."

"Arigatou gozaimasu."

Naruto chuckles loudly as Akai starts eating. The blonde seems to be at his third portion already but he shows no sign of stopping yet. Akai uses her chopsticks to put a piece of chicken into her mouth.

"Thank you for inviting me." She tells him.

"One more bowl please! Hehe, Ramen tastes better when you eat with a friend. " He explains to her. "By the way, something about you is missing…"

Akai stops eating as Naruto glances at her. She can´t help but wonder if she accidentally has forgotten something in her face or that he clothes is wrong side out. She can´t detect things like that with her sight so it's nothing she can do.

"What is it?"

Naruto ponders for a while more before he realizes it.

"Ah-hah! Where is the staff you always carries with you?"

Akai´s eyes move a little at this but her reaction is much better now than before. She has somewhat accepted the fact that her staff is broken beyond repair now when Kiba apologized to her lest night.

"Well…how should I put it? My bo-staff didn't survive my latest mission. I´ll have to get a new one soon." She answers absentmindedly while chewing on another piece of meet.

Naruto nods in silence at this and he continues to eat his meal. The two of them can somehow be silent in each other's company without it disturbing them. It's a nice thing Akai appreciates since she often thinks too much, answering many questions and talk can be bothersome that way. Like when she´s with Ino; she can never know when the blonde will ask her something. Akai doesn't mean that being with Ino is troubling, it's just that she's very talkative when she isn´t.

A sudden feeling of being watched invades Akai´s senses but she ignores it since she's certain it's some of the customers who are staring at her hair or something. She checks the room though and notices that she and Naruto are the only ones there at the moment. The two working in the kitchen has seen her before so…is there someone watching? The Grass ninja uses her foot to create vibrations in the ground to locate the person like a radar.

"Ano, Naruto?"

"Hmm?"  
"I´ve to check something I´ll be right back."

Naruto turns around in his seat as Akai walks toward the entrance, to exit Ichiraku. A lone string of noodle hangs from his lips but he wipes it with the back of his hand absentmindedly. Akai walks toward the large pole outside the person she saw is still there, hiding behind it.

"A-a-akai-san!" A very familiar voice stutters as she approaches the person.

"Hinata?" Akai questions.

"A-ano, I´ll l-leave now!" The Hyuuga girl shouts in panic.

"No! Wait, why don't you join us? Ichiraku serve free meals today."

Akai starts to grin at the thought. She can still remember her promise to Hinata clearly and she won't let the shy girl run now. A pale hand grabs the Hyuuga´s arm gently but firmly as she leads the almost unconscious girl towards the restaurant. Akai feels kind of evil as she literally forces Hinata to join her and Naruto but a promise is a promise! The slightly shorter girl trembles as they enters the building and a gasp leaves her lips as she spots the blonde sitting there. Naruto turns around to greet Akai but his eyes move as he sees Hinata by her side.

"Hinata?"

"K-konnichiwa N-naruto-kun."

Akai is well aware of that the two of them know each other somewhat but Naruto has no clue about that right? So she uses her bad acting skills to make them believe that she, herself, had no idea that the two of them had met before. Akai knows that girls like Hinata need a push in the right direction so she'll help her the way she can. Even though it´s something she wouldn't normally do. A sigh leaves her lips as she realizes that she sounds very much like Ino now; the true matchmaker from hell. She frowns.

"You two know each other?" Akai asks them in a very innocent voice.

Hinata flinches at Akai´s acted innocence and her eyes tell Akai that she's really nervous about this. But Hinata´s body stops trembling as Naruto smiles big towards her. Even Akai is touched by the brightness of his smile so it must be like a smile from heaven to Hinata.

"Yeah! We've been friends for a long time!"

"Oh, I see." Akai smiles at Hinata´s reaction, she is red as a tomato. "It's ok for her to join us right? As you said; eating with a friend makes the meal even more delicious."

"Sure! Sit here, Hinata!" Naruto pats the chair at his other side. "I never thought that I would meet you here."

Hinata nods with a blush covering her cheeks and she accepts the seat he offers her. Akai sits down at Naruto´s other side with a smile on her lips. Her hand cups her cheek as she continues to eat from her half empty bowl, she silently distances herself from them to give her friend more room. Other people's love affairs aren't her business right? Her smile fades as her thoughts wander to other things or rather; another person.

* * *

**AN; thank you for reading! It´s rather funny that the first part of the chapter is rather serious while the other part is the oposite. Neji tends to make Akai become deeper than she is with Ino for an example. I liked this chapter and I hope my thoughts reached you too. Any questions, remarks, demands etc pleace tell me anything in a review. Even if you hate my work! So please R&R. **


	12. Chapter 12

**AN; Thank you everyone for your reviews, alerts and favs.**

**I want to mention that I own my OCs, storyline and plot so if I see someone who copies my work I´ll contact the writer. This happened recently but the story is now not avaible anymore. I hope it won´t happen again and to be honest, I don´t think anyone would be happy to see their story or characters copied. Some of my friends has been copied and it´s the worst feeling ever. **

**enough with that...enjoy!

* * *

****Akai** smiles as she approaches the team who she used to train with when she first arrived in Konoha. She had missed them somewhat since they haven't been able to meet for some time now and hearing Ino´s cheerful greeting makes her smile unconsciously. She has never felt that way, missing people to be with, it makes her feel strange.

"Ohayou Akai!"

"Ohayou gozaimasu."

Akai sits down at the bench wither her focus on the three shinobi in front of her. Their movements indicate that the three of them are practising a combo move together. Ino has told her about their Ino-shika-chou technique and Akai concludes that this must be like that jutsu. Maybe a better version of it. _I need to come up with some new jutsus too I can't rely on my current ones all the time. _She ponders to herself.

"Shikamaru you have to be faster than that!" Ino tells him.

Akai chuckles as she hears how the Nara sighs loudly at this. Sure Ino is a bossy girl but she's right about him being too slow. The albino searches around for their sensei; Asuma but he's absent.

"Where is your sensei?"

"Oh he's out on a date…with Kurenai-sensei." Ino tells her with a grin.

Ino tells the others that it's enough for today and it doesn't take long before Akai feels how another weight sits down beside her on the bench. Chouji sighs tiredly while he's using his hand as a fan toward his face. Shikamaru sits down on the ground before he slowly lowers himself down to gaze at the clouds. Ino sits down on Akai´s other side.

"You know, you could have told me about your mission, I thought you had disappeared or something." Ino complains in a disappointed voice but with a hind of a smile in it.

"Sorry but I had no time to inform anybody about it, well except my Hotel." Akai explains.

"How did it go? I heard that Kiba was a mess when you came back." Shikamaru asks Akai in a lazy tone but a fraction of curiosity in his voice.

"I and Kiba couldn't get a long at first so things became complicated…and Akamaru was in great danger for a while so I can understand why Kiba was like a wreck afterwards. But everything turned out nicely. By the way…I need to buy a new bo-staff, where can I find one?"

Akai asks them since she doesn't know if Kiba wanted to repay her by buying her one. She doesn't want him to buy her something that personal so she believes it's better that she gets it herself.

"Oh… I guess in the weapon shop. Tenten told me about a new one that is supposed to be really hip. We can go and check it out together, ne?" Ino tells Akai in a happy voice. The blonde wants to go shopping anyway and now she got a reason to do so.

"Sure." Akai agrees.

"I need to get some new shurikens too." Chouji tells them with a broad smile.

* * *

**So** the four of them walks of toward the new shop Tenten told Ino about. Akai doesn't bother to focus on her surroundings since she won't need to, Ino is showing the way. It feels nice to be with them again, to just hang out, something she wasn't really able to do at home. Just thinking about home now makes her feel depressed; she doesn't want to return to the place where everyone looked at her strangely. Where she's always underestimated, treated so differently and not allowed doing all things a normal shinobi would be allowed to do without hesitation.

Their search for that shop slowly turned out to be a shopping trip for Ino. The blonde girl forces Shikamaru to give his opinion on clothes she tries on, the make up she tries and the jewellery she wants. The poor ponytailed man keeps on sighing telling her that he's the wrong man for this but Ino doesn't seem to listen.

When Ino is done they get back on the streets in their search for a bo-staff. The blonde Konoha ninja looks at her surroundings with a confused expression on her face. She decides to turn right and head toward the north part of Konoha. Shikamaru, who senses her confusion, wants to know if she's sure about where they're going.

"So where is this new shop, Ino?" Shikamaru asks her at last.

"Maybe it would have been better if we asked Tenten to come along too." Ino tells them in an uneasy tone while looking around.

"We're lost aren't we?" Shikamaru murmurs in an irritated voice.

"Do you mean we have to turn back? Man…I´m already tired." Chouji complains out of breath.

Akai stands there beside her three friends while feeling quite helpless. During the time the four of them walked around in Konoha she lost herself in places she never been to before. So if they're lost so is she. The fact makes her feel weak and helpless. Konoha sure is a large village since you can lose your way even thought you was raised there. Akai has never really been in that position before since Grass is much smaller and less inhabited.

"Ano…Ino? Let's turn back…" Akai starts to suggests but Ino interrupts her.

"Well Tenten tends to hang around close by so I'm sure we'll find her soon. I know several really good cloth stores here, so let's go!"

"Troublesome…don't expect me to carry anymore of your stuff." Shikamaru groans.

They continue to walk down the street and the mood gets worse by each store Ino decides to go into. Shikamaru and Chouji can't help but complain at her desire to shop. Akai doesn't really complain but she feels rather bored. She can't see the things Ino buys or the _amazing_ clothes she talks about or anything so shopping has never been something she liked. It's more like something she has to do once in a while so she won't walk around in rags with holes everywhere.

* * *

**Ino** runs ahead of them as they reaches the place where Gai-sensei´s students use to train. Akai walks a little slower when the vibrations in the ground tell her that Neji is there too. Something about that makes her think that their talk might have worked and that he's better now, she recalls that Tenten told her that he didn't show up at earlier practises. Akai stays silent as Ino talks to Tenten but she can't avoid looking at Neji. The Hyuuga is currently training with Lee and he uses his gentlefist to match up with Lee´s amazing taijutsu. A small smile grows bigger at her lips as she notices how the tension is gone from her friend's body and that he's completely focused on the battle.

"You know Akai needs a new bo-staff and I just remembered about the shop you mentioned. But we couldn't find it."

"Ah I see. It´s quite hard since it's a small shop…But I can show you, just….wait a sec." Tenten turns around. "Neji!"

Akai doesn't know why but something strange happens with her body as Tenten calls out his name. She gets ice cold, like as if she's afraid of him, but a warm sensation takes over quickly and invades her whole being. She opens her eyes and regards how the blurry picture of him turns around to face Tenten and that means that he'll be seeing her too. _Why…am I nervous? I mean he´s…talking to Tenten and not me._ Akai curses herself and her sudden nervousness.

"Hey Neji, Is it ok that I leave a little earlier?" The weapon user asks her friend.

Neji and Lee stops training and they face the others. Lee smiles broadly and waves with his hand toward Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Akai while Neji stays still. His eyes travel to his team mate for a second before he looks at the others in silence.

Akai feels how he meets her gaze for a moment and a calm emotion invades her senses. Something about his body language makes her feel like their meeting some days ago wasn't a waste of time. It's like a gush of fresh air for her and she feels happy when she notices how calm Neji is, and how relaxed he seems to be. The dark circles around his eyes are gone and he looks fit for fight again. They don't greet one another since there's no need for it.

"You can go." Is his answer to Tenten´s question.

Tenten gives him her thanks before she joins the others in their search for that shop. She and Ino stars talking immediately about everything and nothing while Shikamaru, Chouji and Akai walk in silence. Akai can't help but wonder if Neji is still looking at her, she knows that it's kind of childish of her but she can't stop thinking. Neji makes her feel so strange.

* * *

**Akai **gets the feeling of that the shop owner looks at her strangely as they step into the small room full with pointy and sharp objects. She can tell since the edges cling by every step they're taking onto the shop. Tenten smiles broadly as she talks to the owner, who she probably knows, asking about some weapons that she has ordered. Akai continues to walk in her search for the section where the bo-staffs are. The owner of the shops follows her with his eyes even though Tenten is talking to him.

"Hey, do you need some help?"

Akai doesn't turn around to face him but she tilts her head in his direction. The tone he used tells her much about his thoughts about her and she doesn't like where it's heading. Shikamaru looks at Akai, then at the shop owner, before he walks up to join Akai.

"No thank you." Akai tells the man flatly but nods in Shikamaru´s direction.

The two of them finds the shelf for the staffs rather quickly and Akai starts to touch them one by one in her search for a new weapon.

"Oh don't worry. Akai-san can take care of herself" Tenten explains to the man. " By the way, do you've some space where we can test the staffs?"

Tenten, Ino and Chouji stays there and talks with the man about all kinds of stuff while Akai continue to touch the staffs. She finds the staffs too thin, too long or too light for her liking and she sighs in frustration. Akai´s last staff was special to her and she knows that she won't find another like that one but it stills makes her depressed. She's just about to give up when a metallic, vibrating sound reaches her eardrums.

"What's this?" She asks no one in particular.

"It looks like some kind of a pole…" Shikamaru tells her. "Someone must have put it here by mistake. _Troublesome_…"

Akai grabs it in her hand and the coolness of the metal sends a shiver down her spine. The weight feels nice in her palm as she pulls the pole out of the shelf. The pole is longer than her old staff but something about the weapon makes her want to try it out. It doesn't take long for her to understand that this pole is nothing like her staff; it's longer, one edge seems to be sharp like a spear while the other is heavier.

"Wow what a nice pole!" Tenten cheers as she notices it. "Let's go and test it!"

"Hah…Tenten seems to be more excited about this than you're Akai." Shikamaru tells her while sighing, he gives her a lazy grin.

Akai smiles at this and nods in the direction of Shikamaru´s voice. She grabs the handle, which is marked by leather in the middle of the pole, and follows the others.

"It looks kinda complicated." Ino tells her as the owner leads the group to a free space in the garden. "Well I guess complicated for people like me who only use kunai and shuriken."

"Well kunai and shuriken are tools which the normal ninja uses while some tends to specialise with more complicated, dangerous and odd weapons…" Tenten starts to explain. "I love to try on new weapons! I mean when you can handle many of them it'll become easy to fight…A small stick, chopsticks or a fan can become deadly tools in the hands of a skilled weapon user…."

"Yeah…" Ino sweat drops anime style at her friend´s obsession.

"I agree with you, Tenten-san." Akai tells her after some thought. "A true ninja should be able to use _anything_ as a weapon in battle." _Something that I probably will never be able to do…_

"Uh-huh!" Tenten nods violently.

The shop owner chuckles a little at their conversation as they finally reach his yard where Akai´ll be able to try the pole. The breeze hits her face gently as she steps out of the building and it feels nice to breath air without the smell of metal in it. The vibrations in the ground tells her that Chouji is also planing to try out his newly bought shuriken and she makes sure that she's not standing in his way.

Akai starts by rotating the pole carefully between her both hands to get a more detailed picture of its weight, length and where the sharp edge or the more heavy parts are. It doesn't take long for her to get it and she rotates it more quickly; changes hand rotates it behind her back and under her leg. Akai hits the ground by accident and a loud, violent vibration makes her hands shake. A frown graces her face at this and she tries it again. This time the vibrations created by the metal pole uses the ground to travel and fade away. Akai´s eyes open quickly and she looks at her surroundings.

"What's she doing?" The owner asks the others in a sceptical voice.

"Ah I see." Shikamaru starts. "She can use the pole as a radar, using the created vibrations to explore her surroundings. Metal gives away more sound than a wooden pole…" He smirks at the man's surprised expression.

"She's blind isn't she? Wouldn't it be better for her to buy something less sharp, like a cane?"

Shikamaru´s smirk fades at that statement and his eyes become sharp, his laziness disappears from his face as he glances up at the taller man who's looking at Akai with a strange expression.

Akai continues to practise with the pole and she's slowly getting a grip of how she should use it. Judging by the sharp edge makes her believe that Akai can use it as a spear, the long staff makes it easy for her to use it as she used her bo-staff and the heavy and thick edge can be used to hit hard surfaces or very persistent foes. A smile grows on her pale lips at this and she turns to face the shop owner.

"I´ll take it, how much?" Akai tells him with a smile but it fades, since he doesn't reply. "Is there a problem?"

"I can't sell dangerous weapons to a blind person."

Akai gasps silently at this; she hadn't excepted him to object like that. She has got used to be treated like a normal person around her friends here in Konoha so she had forgotten about the way things really are. It hits her quite hard and anger starts to rage inside of her. That mask is coming up again and all she wants is to scream at the man.

"Why not?" Ino asks the man with an irritated voice.

"It's like selling a knife to a three year old, they'll get hurt." Is his defence and he's right somehow.

When he compares her to a three-year-old she gets enough. She understands his motives well, that you shouldn't sell dangerous things to a person with bad sight since they could easily hurt themselves by accident but this…

"I _appreciate_ that you worries about my safety here but I'm not a **child**. I'm a full-fledged _shinobi_ and I know how to handle this kind of weapon." Akai tells him in a sharp tone. "I can literally handle it with my eyes closed."

"That might be true." He tells her while taking the pole from her hands.

"Hey!" Tenten objects. "She's a customer you know? Treat her like one!"

Akai stands there with anger boiling inside of her, clenching her fists firmly till her knuckles turn white. Her dad gave her a handmade staff since she shopkeeper wouldn't sell her one at home; that was why it was so important to her. Why did she think Konoha would be different? With a loud snort she walks away from them without looking back.

"Akai!" Ino shouts after her.

"It doesn't matter anymore, that pole wasn't that good anyway."

Ino looks at Akai´s back as the Grass ninja walks away from the yard with a sad expression on her face. Tenten eyes flicker from Akai´s back, to Ino to the shopkeeper before her chocolate orbs get a special shine in them. The Chinese girl runs to catch up with the man.

"Chotto matte!"

* * *

**Akai **found a large package on her bed some days later and when she opened it she came to understand that someone had bought her the pole that she wanted. Her fingers shook as she realised it and she forced herself to take a deep breath and touch it again to see if it really was what she thought it was.

"They must have bought it for me that day…" She murmured to herself.

Blurry pictures of her friends entered her mind at the thought and a strange, warm feeling exploded inside of her. _Happiness._ No one besides her team and family at home has given her a gift like that. That pole might become just as important to her as the bo-staff was.

"You look really happy." Kumori told her later that day when they shared a package of ice cream. " What happened?"

"Nothing…" Akai smiled.

* * *

**Neji **lowers himself down into Akai´s lap out of habit as they meet under the cherry blossom three. Akai flinches a little by this since she's still not used to it. It is almost as if he has claimed her somehow, that thought makes her nervous but also sceptical. Sure they've become really close but expecting something more from the Hyuuga is pure foolishness. Akai shakes her head mentally and focuses on the man in her lap instead of her strange emotions.

The people in Konoha, her _friends_, has somehow reached her heart and she loves all of them. It feels just like a dream to her and she feels very emotional all of a sudden.

Neji´s long dark hair colours her robes black as he lies there looking up at her with eyes that might have seen her thoughts. Akai looks him in the eye for a moment before she looks away slowly, not sure how to respond to his intense gaze. A deep sigh leaves Neji´s lips and he closes his eyes.

"You said…you wanted to see my face." Neji states out of the blue in a quite emotionless voice.

This makes Akai flinch a bit and she turns her full attention to Neji. The Albino recalls how Neji caught her while she was touching his face some days ago and the fact that he brings it up makes her uneasy. Her fingers has always helped her to see and she's aware of that she might become a little too touchy.

"I'm sorry about…."

"You can touch my face, if you want to." He interrupts her.

This takes Akai out of balance completely and she sits there in silence for a while without really understanding what Neji just told her. _Is he okay with it?_ He'll let her touch him? She remembers how Yoshi hated it when she touched him like that for the first time, sure they barely knew each other but it has always hurt her. How can Neji accept her ways so calmly? She's so confused; why is he so different compared to others? A warm sensation invades her chest and stomach and she decides at last to take this chance he gives her so she takes a deep breath and leans down.

"Eh…just keep your eyes shut so I don't poke your eyes out by accident." Akai warns him with a hesitant tone but a hint of a joke in it.

She's sure that her nervousness shines through but Neji doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. He lies there in her lap totally relaxed as she starts to touch his face in a very gentle manner. It feels a little strange when her skin connects with his but it's certainly not a bad feeling. His skin is really smooth and soft just as she remembers it to be. Long eyelashes tickle her fingertips as she caresses the sensible skin around his eyebrows and eyelashes. She has no clue how a ninja like him can keep his skin so flawless. A more detailed picture of his face gets visible inside of her mind as her fingers travel over his face but a part is still misty. Neji grabs her hand quickly as her fingers starts to touch the edges of his forehead protector. This makes Akai gasp, not only because the suddenness in his motion but also the sensation of him holding her hand in his.

"…What?" She breathes at last.

"Akai…no." Neji tells her in a very cold voice, clearly telling her that she can't touch his forehead.

The pure coldness in his voice makes her shiver. She has never heard him use that kind of voice before and it frightens her a little bit. It makes her realise how deeply he's hurt by his clan's actions and that it won't be healed that easily. Knowing that she might only be feeding the fire, she pushes Neji a little further with an aching heart.

"Neji." Akai doesn't loosen her grip on his headband. "You shouldn't keep it covered all the time. You're hurting yourself while doing so. You should let it go."

What Akai means is that by hiding his mark he's, maybe unconsciously, trapping himself in that cage of his. Neji is still locked up by memories of his past and they are hurting him more now than ever. He has to let it go to find his inner peace and to find a way to change the course of the Hyuuga clan. The silence between them grows longer and heavier by each second but none of them gives in. Neji´s hand squeezes her hard but she doesn't notice the pain.

"Neji…?"

Akai has no idea if her speech made him allow her to see, or her pleading voice. But a deeper emotion inside of her tells her that he trust her and that's why he lets her see through his mask. _Why does he, and her friends, trust her so when the people in Grass won´t even look at her?_ Neji frowns deeply and his body becomes tense as a stick as he let go of her hand. The pain disappears in her fingers and a silent breath leaves her in relief. He's allowing her to touch but the atmosphere is still too heavy for her liking.

"Just so you know, I won't be able to see it, just feel..." She tells him this in a weak try to make him relax once again.

It doesn't work very well but she doesn't give in. She unties his headband slowly while massaging his temples, trying to coax him to relax. Her skilled fingers removes the forehead protector slowly only to notice that bandage is covering the mark beneath it. She frowns at this. She removes the bandage in silence, almost forgetting to breathe, and puts it down by her side. White eyes stare up at her in a way that tells her that Neji will act quickly if she does something the wrong way.

"Trust me." She murmur as her fingers connects with his skin once again.

She feels the soft surface of his skin change, small bumps lined up shows her the mark that has caused Neji so much suffering and pain. The picture of him in her mind grows slowly by each centimetre that she touches and when the face of a young, good looking man with a cursed mark on his forehead gets visible does a load gasp leave her lips. Everything hits her then; his face, his pain and she can imagine how hurt he must have looked before. Her heart aches more than ever at this.

"It hurts…r-right?" Akai´s voice breaks as she tries to speak. The ball of pain in her throat makes it hard to talk and breathe. She doesn't know why she feels the way she's feeling but she finds herself fighting to keep away her tears. "Gomen…._Gomen nasai_...."

Coldness hits her body as Neji gets up from her lap into a sitting position. She feels so naked when she sits there on her knees almost crying when she knows that he's looking at her. She wanted to help Neji to step out of that cage but will her reaction to his mark make him close the doors more firmly? That thought makes her hurt even more. She has finally made him trust her somehow and this might ruin it all.

"I-I'm not pitying you… I just..ah…" Akai knows how much it hurts to be pitied and she hopes he doesn't think she's feeling that way about him. "But it's too much! Your pain is too much and you thought of keeping this all to yourself? It's like committing suicide!"

Akai wipes away the traces of tears and she's glad that she didn't start weeping completely in front of the Hyuuga. Her sensible ears hears the sound of him sighing deeply.

"Isn't that…what you've been doing all these years too?" Neji asks her in a gentle but direct voice.

Akai, who thought he would be angry with her, looks up towards him with a confused expression. And it hits her once again; Neji is right about her. She has also been silent about her pain and hidden her displeasure beneath a mask of sarcasm and irony. Slowly hiding her true self from people in general. When did he pick up that much about her? Her eyebrows twitch has she realises that it must have been when she told him about her past and struggle to get acknowledged. His eyes sure can see through her…does he hates what he's seeing? A long silence grows between them.

"Let's train." He suggests out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"Fighting is a good way to release emotions…"

Neji isn't a man who would put his arms around just anyone, Akai knows that, so the small hint of caring in his voice makes her feel better. His suggestions tells her that he's also in need to erase some stress, feelings and pain by fighting. It's strange how they can understand each other like that. Warmth re-enters her heart and takes away her sadness and pain as Neji´s now gentle eyes lands on her face like if he's checking if she's okay. Now that she can see a clear picture of him does she realise how handsome he really is. Not only handsome but understanding, caring in his own way, a good training partner and a dear friend. Akai turns away as she feels how her pale cheeks turns blood red as a blush appears. Another negative thing with being an albino is that her lack of pigment makes it very easy to see what she blushes. Neji sure makes her feel strange.

"Oh… Hai!" Akai forces a weak smile to her lips. "I need help with a new justsu of mine…"

_**Akai wouldn't be able to leave Konoha without a broken heart anymore. The city and its inhabitants have slowly got a hold of her heart and leaving would mean intense pain. But knowing this doesn't change anything, she still has to return someday and complete the task she has been given.

* * *

**_**AN; thats end of chapter. I hope you liked it. If you want send me a review with your opinion on what´s happening, I would gladely read your thoughts! It´s fun now since Akai starts to get feelings for the Hyuuga. Mowahaha.**

**R&R**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN; sorry for the late update everyone, but here´s chapter 13!

* * *

****Akai **inhales deeply as she charges with her pole in her hands. She hits the ground twice and a metallic sound starts to echo around her with intense vibrations. It's almost as a barrier of pure power, vibrations and chakra protects her as she goes in to attack.

"Gaaaah…Baibore-Shon no jutsu!

Neji looks as calm as ever as Akai approaches him even though the field of vibrations power ups her already powerful pole. When Akai is about to hit him with her new jutsu Neji uses his gentle fist to knock her pole, and her, out of balance.

"Oh!" Akai gasps by surprise. "Itaiii!"

Akai doesn't get the chance to regain her balance and the albino falls to the ground quite hard. Her shining pole loses its power as it hits the ground with a loud sound.

"I failed again…"Akai complains tiredly while rubbing her sore back.

"You've power but you can't control it properly. Do it again."

"Yes sir!" She shouts out in an over energetic voice.

Neji smirks as she gets up on her two feet again while still complaining over her bruised skin and aching limbs. The two of them has been training for several hours and it seems that it starts to show now. Akai´s powers amuse him since by each hour they spend together on the field he gets to see them grow. Being with her makes him feel nice, it's like he has finally found someone to rely on. He knows that he can rely on his fellow shinobi but not this way, not with his emotions and thoughts. Akai has slowly become an important person to him and maybe even something so much deeper.... Neji stands in his defensive pose as she runs towards him once again; his unemotional mask covers his thoughts.

"Prepare yourself Neji! Here I come…Baibore-Shon no jutsu!"

* * *

"**Neji."** A deep and mature voice calls out.

The sound of that voice makes the two shinobi flinch, Akai more visible than Neji, and they turn around. The sudden meeting interrupts their training somewhat and Akai is breathing hard from runing. The Grass kunoichi doesn't recognise the voice so she stays alert to get a chance to get to know who the unknown people are.

"Hiashi-sama…Hanabi-san." Neji greets them both with a polite bow of his head.

Akai bows as a silent greeting as the two Hyuuga approaches followed by some people unknown to her. The polite way Neji addressed them tells her that these people are in a very high status and that she should follow his example. Her body tenses unconsciously at the heavy atmosphere around the older man there who, Akai calculates, must be the leader of the Hyuuga clan. When she first met Neji she thought that his stare was intense and frightening and even unpleasant sometimes, but that is nothing compared to what she feels when Hyuuga Hiashi looks at her.

"If I may ask, who are you?" Hiashi asks Akai at last.

"My name is Isozaki Akai, Hyuuga-sama. It's a pleasure to meet you." Akai decides to act polite so she won't attract more attention than her albinism already gives her.

"Hn…The pleasure is mine." Hiashi answers in a very cold voice, he uses nice words but puts no warmth in them. He doesn't bother to pay Akai more attention than that and he turns to Neji. "Neji, Hinata is waiting for you to accompany her with her training."

"You didn't show up." Hanabi states the fact. "Onee-san got worried about you."

Akai´s eyes flicker. _Was he supposed to train with Hinata after this? How much training do he attend to? It can't be good for him…_

"Gomen nasai, I lost the track of time…" Neji apologises without a large amount of regret in his voice, everything seems to be an act of honour and not of feelings. Akai frowns at this, she doesn't like the great tension between Neji and Hiashi at all. The clan leader turns to Hanabi.

"Hanabi, Let´s continue on." Hiashi´s eyes travel between Neji and Akai before he turns around to leave. His cold eyes tell that Neji should follow them.

"Hai." Hanabi replies politely and follows her father.

Akai can't shrug off the tickling sensation inside of her, and she knows that this time, it's not a good feeling. She has during the time with Neji understood that he has family problems and now when she met the leader of his clan she… grasps the problem a tiny bit better. The tenseness, the politeness and their ways to behave around each other makes her believe that everything isn't as it should be. They doesn't behave like clan members should. Akai squints as she tries to see their retreating backs and the soft breeze plays with her hair. A shiver travels down her spine.

"I've to go." Neji tells her flatly, interrupting her thoughts but Akai notices a hint of regret in his voice.

Akai turn around when she feels that Neji looks at her and she tries to hide her uneasiness with a smile. She ought to know that Neji knows her too well, he won't fall for her trick and a small change of his composure tells her that she's right. A sickly pale hand pushes back her damp tresses, away from her face as she approaches her friend. Why does she feel so weak when she thinks of Neji and his problems? Her chest hurts a little.

"Mm." She nods without looking at him.

She places her free hand on his shoulder in a both comforting and friendly manner. The simple touch makes Akai´s skin tingle with electricity and a sudden nervousness, mixed with worry and maybe something more enters her being. She doesn't want him to go but She doesn't know if it's her selfish self that is talking or her worry for Neji. The sudden urge to be close to him, hug him or just be with him makes her bite her lip in confusion. _Stay. With me…_But she shakes her head mentally and smiles.

"Take care, ok?" Akai pats Neji´s shoulder before she withdraws herself from him.

Neji´s enchanting eyes makes her inhale air deeply, ever since he let her see his face has his every action towards her made butterflies stir inside of her stomach. But now that she recalls it, the feeling inside of her was there before that moment…A sensation she never has felt before. Neji doesn't show if he sees her inner turmoil or not and she's grateful. The small, but noticeable, smile at his lips makes her eyes widen a fraction.

"Arigatou." He tells her sincerely, in a tone that sounds relieved. "Sayonara."

"Bye."

* * *

**Neji´s **body aches from his training with Hinata but he knows that he has during this passed days trained more than usual. He has trained with Team Gai, taught Hinata about the Hyuuga basic moves and been with Akai… He walks through the beautiful garden of the Hyuuga compound with his formal clothes floating in the wind behind him. A strange sensation in his stomach has since this morning bothered him and he just knows that something isn't right. The way Hiashi looked at Akai back then bothers him still and he can't forget his cold, underestimating and stern eyes. Thinking about Akai in any way makes him feel strongly and the mere thought of Hiashi…Neji shakes his head mentally while he pushes open the wooden door and walks into the room.

"You called?" Neji asks as he kneels down in front of Hiashi.

The two of them are sitting in an old fashioned Japanese room that looks much like the ones in the Edo period. The white walls that are made of thin paper and cloth isn't as sound proof as they could be, the floor is covered by a large amount of tatami carpets, and in a corner is a scroll hanging on the wall that represents the current season.

"You've changed, Neji."

Neji doesn't answer since Hiashi didn't give him a question, but his body becomes tense at his uncle's statement. The bad feeling inside of him grows stronger without him wanting it to.

"Who was the girl back there?" He asks him as if the girl is of no importance to him at all.

"Her name is Isozaki Akai, a shinobi of the Grass that's here to build up a new alliance between our two countries."

Neji is sure to tell Hiashi of Akai´s importance and mission here in Konoha to make him change his view on her. Neji knows that his uncle won't listen to this but he tries anyway. A kunoichi from a small and unarmed country as Grass doesn't interest Hiashi at all and he shrugs at Neji´s unnecessary information.

"Did Hokage-sama order you to train with her?" Hiashi asks Neji sternly.

Hiashi believes that the reason that one of his most skilled Hyuuga spends time with a handicapped girl must be that he was ordered to do so. Why would someone at such high rank associate with someone like her if it wasn't an order or one's mission? Why waste time on her when you could train to get stronger? Neji has become quite talented to read people and he finds it very handy, but he isn't happy when he notices Hiashi´s true motives. The older Hyuuga makes Akai seem to be a bother, a hindrance.

"No." Neji answers the question sharply. Hiashi´s eyes look at him for some moments in silence before he looks elsewhere. A deep sigh leaves the man´s lips.

"…Neji, you've soon reached the appropriate age of becoming a husband." Hiashi changes the subject.

"Yes." Neji answers him in a blank tone.

"Associating with that girl will reduce your chances at finding a suitable woman." Hiashi tells him as a matter of fact. He's not literally saying it but what the man wants is that Neji stays away from Akai from now on and that he should focus on something else. It's not an advice, it's more like an order in Neji´s ears.

Neji´s eyes narrow at Hiashi´s words but he knows better than talking back. He frowns as he looks into the distance, looking quite naturally composed while his mind is in an inner turmoil. An inner rage grows in side of his chest, anger that he seldom feels and he knows that it's due to his uncle's way to talk about Akai, how he talks to him. He seems to see her as a plague of some sort, an insect or even a threat. It's ridiculous.

To marry someone hasn't been something he wanted to do and certainly not if his clan will interrupt his ways or chose candidates for him. Girls have always been around, fussing over him but he has never found any interest in any of them and _if_ he would ever marry it'll be to someone he truly loves. And certainly not a girl, or a cousin, which _Hiashi_ picked out for him.

"I offered Akai my help and I won't break our promise due to such matters."

Hiashi frowns as he notices the way Neji addresses the Albino girl and the way he talks back. He utters her first name without any politeness, caution or hesitation like they've knows each other for a very long time. Hiashi knows that the young Hyuuga tries to act indifferent but he can sense that Neji´s up to something that he surely won't like and he's certain of that the girl with the eyes is the source of his disobedience.

"Is it so?" Hiashi asks him in a very cold and questioning voice. He clearly doubts that training with a girl like Isozaki, who isn't from an impressive clan, will improve Neji´s skills in any way. Neji excuses himself, after a long silence without any kind of indication of speak from Hiashi, with a bow and steps back to exit the room when Hiashi suddenly utters;

"You can't disobey the council's orders Neji."

Neji stops in the doorway for a moment as he hears this, but he pushes close the doors behind his back with a bitter expression. A hand touches his forehead unconsciously as he walks through the corridors towards his room in the other side of the Hyuuga complex. He feels like he's suffocating.

* * *

**A new day **has come and the orange glow bathes the training field with warmth. Two silhouettes are fighting in the light but their usual rhythm and grace is gone and their moves are jerkier than before. They've been at it for several hours now but no progress can be spotted.

A quite powerful gentle fist hit Akai in her shoulder area and this makes her fall backwards down into the tall grass. A loud gasp leaves her as she hits the ground, but she manages to avoid some damage as she cushions her fall with a simple movement with her uninjured shoulder. Grass tickle her skin as she lies on her back staring up at the beautiful sky, she squints.

"I think that's enough for me today." Akai gets up.

Akai looks up at the sky once again while squinting her eyes, she hides her face from the sun moments later by pulling her hood over her head. A warm day is ahead of them and Akai notices already that she won't be able to be outside much longer without bathing in sun lotion. She turns to Neji and notices that it doesn't seem that he heard her. He are still practesing without any sign of tiredness.

"Neji?"

"Then leave." Neji tells her in a quite cold voice.

With a voice full of coldness, he tells her to leave if she doesn't want to continue, and it surprises her. It has been weeks since he last spoke to her formally or with a certain distance between them and the thought of that returning scare the albino a little bit. It's like he's trying to create a distance between them. Akai understands that something must have happened and her surprise changes into worry.

"You won't gain anything by pushing yourself this far Neji…If you want, we can talk about…."

"Leave Akai, I need to continue." Neji interrupts her hoarsely.

The Grass ninja flinches violently by this and her eyes snap open. Akai feels very rejected by Neji´s sudden personality change and instead of feeling sad, anger starts to grow inside of her. The trust she has built up together with the Hyuuga is somewhat lost, in her point of view, and it hurts her. Showing Neji that is something she doesn't want to happen. She won't just stand there while he treats her this way.

"Fine." Akai snorts harshly. "I´ll just… _go."_

Akai walks away in silence but her anger can be spotted in her quite tense body language. Neji continues to practise his gentle fist like crazy, just as if nothing happened. His lips are in a thin line as he punches one of the sakura threes harder than he intended to. Soft petals fall down around him and he stops for once and breathes out loud. His dark hair frames his face as he leans against the three, the same three where he and Akai always meet, with a pained expression on his face. _What am I supposed to do? _Neji´s forehead protector touches the three as he stands there lost with pink, soft and sweet petals falling down.

* * *

**Akai** sleeps longer than she used to since her meetings with Neji are cancelled, in her point of view, and she suddenly finds her days longer that she remembers them to be. It's the fifth day that Akai sleeps like this but she still doesn't feel any better. The softness of her pillow calms her somewhat as the strong light slips through the curtains. Another hot day is awaiting her and she plans another day inside this room.

These last days have really been a bother for her since she hasn't been able to go out much except during night-time. It makes her really restless and the idea of ignoring Neji, her feelings for him and thinking about him gets harder to follow now that she has nothing to do. A groan escapes her mouth at this. _Neji…Neji…Hyuuga Neji… _Is the name that's always on her mind, filling her body with warmth, confusion and now anger.

"I won't ask him what's wrong again, this time it's his turn to come to me." She tells herself in a tired voice. "Why is this so…troublesome?" She finds herself using Shikamaru´s way to talk.

Her white blonde hair is in a mess as she finally decides to get up from her sleeping position and she sits on the edge of her bed with her toes touching the floor. She's dressed in a light green dress and the large amount of bare skin makes it easy to see how red and irritated her skin really is. _It's itching…_Akai forces herself to not scratch or touch her skin since it'll only make her situation worse.

Akai puts on a cream that her mother told her to use when she becomes like this and dresses in a pair of short shorts and a top. She is almost never able to wear short clothes so she tends to have them in this situations, not very nice but…A loud knocking noise disturbs the silence and a familiar voice can be heard from the other side of the door.

"Hey Akai, are you ready for today's training?" Ino shouts.

Akai puts her hair into a messy bun before she walks over to the door and opens it for her friend. She can literally feel how Ino is thinking as she sees her in the doorway, her blue eyes are moving up and down over Akai´s body. A small comment on the way Akai looks slips through her lips but she doesn't pay much attention to it.

"Not really, I think I've to stay inside today too…Sorry. Where's Shikamaru and Chouji?"

"They are already at it."

Akai nods as the two of them sits down in her couch. Her eyes land on the clock near the table and her eyes widen a little as she turns to face Ino.

"Ino why are you here? Your training started an hour ago." She asks her friend in a confused tone.

"I worried…about you." Ino tells Akai in an honest voice. "I've noticed that you've been down lately but I can't do anything to help you if you don't tell me what's troubling you."

"So you're skipping practise to be here?" Akai asks her in an irritated voice, while trying to change the subject.

"Akai…" Ino rolls her eyes while sighing. "I'm your friend and I think it's time for you to open up a little. You're always there when others need help but when you've trouble…"

"It's not easy for me to talk about…that kind of stuff." _Neji is the only one that I…_

"Is this about Neji?"

Akai´s eyes narrow since Ino is right. She looks away for a moment to gather her thoughts and Ino leans back in the couch as she waits. Akai starts to tell her thoughts in a very hesitant voice since she doesn't expect Ino to understand.

"I'm always there for him, I'm always trying to help him and take away his problems but…It hurts me so badly when he keeps on creating a distance between us. Am I not worthy of his trust? Am I not good enough?"

Ino looks at Akai sadly and puts her arm around her shoulders in a comforting manner. Their blonde hair mixes together as Akai leans against Ino´s shoulder with her face hidden. The flower-loving girl caresses Akai softly to calm her down as a soft sob escapes the foreign kunoichi.

"You're awesome Akai." Ino assures her.

"…I d-don't want to force him to like me, nor to t-trust me… but sometimes I feel like I'm so worthless. That there's no place in this world for someone like me. Neji made me feel…safe and accepted."

"…You're in love with him." Ino whispers gently in her ear.

"Eh? …What are you saying, this isn't a joke Ino."

Akai leans back to look at Ino with watery eyes. The Grass shinobi feels rather irritated by her sudden conclusion and joke since she was serious about her feelings and thoughts. Ino´s gentle and calm expression makes her narrow her eyes though.

"I am serious here. You're madly in love with him, I can see it Akai so why are you denying it? You're hurting yourself this way, believing that you're worthless…It's all an illusion created by yourself. Open your eyes, _open your eyes_ Akai."

Akai stares at Ino but is not looking. She's searching for answers inside of her, trying to _open her eyes_ as Ino told her to but it's hard. _Do I…really love him? Is that the reason behind my sudden sadness and why I'm so…different?_

"You've friends here, people who likes you for the person you are and maybe…maybe someone that likes you more than just a friend. You're loved for God´s sake."

Ino smiles at Akai´s confusion and she gives her friend a big, tight hug. The comforting warmth Ino offers her makes Akai relax at last and she returns the hug slowly. The two young women sits there in silence for a while with limbs tangled, messed hair and wet eyes.

Ino is right, she has obtained a lot of new friends during her weeks in Konoha. Naruto; a loudmouthed blonde who seems to have an inner power to befriend all kinds of people. Shikamaru and Chouji; two guys who doesn't judge her by her looks and always treats her like anyone else. Kumori; the hard working student who cares a lot and that always makes Akai smile. She has also met Kiba, Shino and Hinata a team who she thought she wouldn't get a long with but ended up to become friends somehow. Akai has met a lot of people who cares more or less about her and Akai mentally punches herself for forgetting that. She wipes her eyes dry.

One thing she doubts though is that Neji loves her as Ino tells her he does. But the mere thought of him loving her makes her body tingle with warmth, nervousness and a strange happiness. But if he likes her like that, why did he treat her that way back then? _There must be a reason behind his behaviour, I just know it, but why didn't he want to talk about it? _If this is love, why does it keep hurting her and making her happy at the same time?

"So…Ino. What should I do now?" Akai asks her friend in a lost tone.

* * *

**Neji** looks up at the sky that's full of bright stars and a large moon. The Hyuuga is lying on his back in his room with the doors open so he can see and feel the night outside. The thick blanket that's covering his body keeps him warm while his face and arms feels the chilly wind. His skin seems to glow by the gentle light from the moon and his white eyes looks paler than ever.

It has been a week since he last saw her now. And he has since that day regretted the way he snarled at her he didn't intend to let his anger affect her, she didn't deserve it. Akai´s hurtful expression startled him and made him realise his mistake but he said it, and you can't take back what once has been said. The damage has already been done. Neji shouldn't care but he does and it makes him feel lost.

Neji shuts his eyes close.

It angers him that he unconsciously follows Hiashi´s orders to stay away from her, but it's not that thought that confuses him. He has used his extra time for training, taking more missions and helping Hinata with her gentle fist; just like Hiashi and the Hyuuga council wants him to. The cage around him is slowly getting smaller.

He has never really disobeyed the clan that directly before but he talked back at that time, like it was natural for him to react that way. Akai has something that pulls a trigger within him, she triggers something he can't control or refuse.

He opens his eyes.

Hiashi said that he has changed and Neji can't help but feel that he wants to fight his so-called _fate _that his clan has put up for him and; change. He wants the whole clan to change. But can one man change the world?

"_I´ll always be there for you.."_He hears her voice echoing.

And Neji realises that he wont get much sleep tonight either.

* * *

**Ino**, Shimakaru and Chouji enters the restaurant as they use to after their training with Asuma-sensei. Ino looks at her surroundings for a moment and her eyes widen as she recognises one of the guest there as Hyuuga Neji.

"Konnichiwa Neji!" Ino cheers as she sees the man sitting in the corner.

Shikamaru, who notices the mood Neji is in, decides not to bother him and he tells Ino that he and Chouji will wait for her at their usual table a little further into the restaurant. Ino nods as she walks over to the Hyuuga.

"Yamanaka." Neji greets the blonde ninja with a nod.

A smile graces Ino´s lips as she notices how Neji looks over her shoulder as if he's expecting someone to be there with her. Ino´s blue eyes soften. It's often easier for others to notice someone else's feelings than understanding your own.

"Akai is staying inside, she said that the weather today is too much for her." Ino explains.

Neji´s eyes flicker back to Ino´s face and his expression changes back to that calm and collected one. Something about that makes Ino believe that he's trying to tell her that he was not looking for the albino at all. It's easy for Ino to see how much her temporary teammate has changed the cold Hyuuga and it makes her somewhat happy. _But has Neji noticed?_

Ino sits down in front of Neji with a slightly sad expression on her face. She's thinking of the way Akai told her about Neji some days ago, how cold he treated her. Akai has her pride and didn't tell her any details but… Ino can't help but feel worried for the both of them. She doesn't want Akai´s first crush to end in tears, like her did.

"Are you waiting for somebody?" Ino asks him with a weak smile.

"No." He tells her flatly, taking a sip of his cup of saké.

Ino recognises the dark liquid immediately since her dad likes it a lot. Ino looks at the bottle of rise wine with suspicion in her eyes. _Has Neji been drinking…?_

"Just chilling then?" Ino tries once again to start a conversation.

"Yes." He tells her in a slightly irritated tone.

Ino sweat drops anime style, she has always known that Neji isn't easy to talk to but this is… a little awkward. She understands that she has literally walked in during one of his mood swings and she prepares herself for the worst. _How the hell did Akai manage to open him up to her? _A deep sigh leaves her slightly pink coloured lips as she decides to get to the point.

"Neji, I don't know what happened between you and Akai but…" Ino pauses, thinking about how she should continue. "Akai isn't the girl who would hunt you down to get her answers, you know? What I am trying to say is that…She's waiting for you."

Neji looks at her and Ino doesn't know it that glare is fury or something less…threatening so she decides to say something more.

"She won't always be in Konoha, so act before it's too late."

* * *

**AN; I hope you liked it! Things will start to move in the next chapter and I can´t wait to start writing it! I´ve got it all figured out from now on. And Honestly; I think Hyuuga Hiashi is one of the most scary characters in the Naruto anime/manga. He´s so... I don´t know. And don´t worry Neji fans, he won´t become an alcoholic! Please R&R, it would make my day! **


	14. Chapter 14

**AN; Yay! Thank you everyone for your awesome reviews! here, take some sweets! Anyway, I was so thrilled when I wrote this so I hope it turned out as good as it was in my head! Enjoy!

* * *

****Love. **To love somebody is totally new to Akai and the growing sensation inside of her scares her. Akai has been thinking about it during these very hot days when she hasn't been able to go outside and she has come to the conclusion that she's indeed in love with the Hyuuga. But what does it mean to be in love? Her heart aches when she thinks of Neji, her whole body aches when she thinks of him, but is love supposed to hurt?

Akai is currently sitting at the windowsill of the lone window in her hotel room. Her light green jacket covers her body and protects her from the sunlight that's shining through the window. A large part of her face is hidden in the shadows of her large hood and her usually blue eyes shine in a pink colour. The only sound that can be heard is her soft breathing and the low sound of the birds outside; everything is so calm. Well, calm on the outside. A pale hand moves slowly and long fingers take a hold of the cloth that is covering her heart. She has not been able to see Neji for a week now and it kills her inside.

"Here."

Akai flinches, she didn't notice Kumori´s presence in the room at all. She accepts the package that the black-haired girl offers her and flinches once again, she didn't expect it to be cold.

"Ice cream?" Akai asks her friend as she touches the cold surface of what's in the package.

"Yeah, everyone eats ice cream when they're down." Kumori explains. "You should try it."

Kumori takes her spoon and eats the ice cream as if it's something you should chew. A shiver runs down her spine at the coldness but she just shrugs it of. Akai uses her hearing to spot Kumori´s location in the room. Her breathing and body composure tells her clearly that the girl is depressed as well.

"So why are you down?" She asks.

"I failed a test." Kumori snorts.

"Oh…"

"You know, my PE teacher is a pain in the ass! I clearly told him that I had a cold but he forced me to run anyway!" Kumori explodes. "And now I'm sore all over!"

Kumori shows her anger with her hands, she makes gestures in the air with the spoon. Akai is certain that some cream must have hit her window since a low sound was heard near her.

"I want to become an journalist, so why the…_why_ do I've to **run!?"**

Akai chuckles at this and takes her spoon full of ice cream into her mouth. Kumori looks at Akai with an irritated expression first but she smiles as she understands that she must have looked crazy.

"Haha… I guess you've more complicated problems than me right?" Kumori asks Akai with a grin on her lips, she feels slightly embarrassed. "Well I've seen it on TV, that depressed people eats ice cream all the time. I thought that it would be interesting to test it."

"Let's…forget about our troubles and do something fun instead." Akai avoids the subject with a chuckle.

"You've any suggestions?"

"Eh…well…no."

Kumori sweat drops anime style.

* * *

**Long** eyelashes flutter open suddenly and Akai finds herself alone in the darkness of the night. A groan leaves her lips as she understands that something must have disturbed her sleep in the middle of the night. The warm sheets around her get tangled as she turns around to find a more comfortable position but she's not tired anymore. She sits up in her bed.

"I can't go outside in daylight but…" She murmurs.

Akai pulls up her messy hair into a bun before she pulls on her usual pair of shorts and her jacket. The small amount of clothes makes her feel light and free since she's always used to wear several layers of clothes during the heat of the day. Walking on her tiptoes she sneaks down the stairs silently to not wake up the other guests, she opens the door and leaves her hotel.

The chilly breeze caresses her face and she enjoys walking outside again. It seems that the weather will get colder from now on but this period of too sunny days has really bothered her. Akai can no understand why it would be impossible for her to compete in the jounin exams in Suna. It's even hotter there during the day! One of her goals is to become a jounin and after that an ANBU and Akai won't give up until she get that spiral tattoo on her right shoulder. As an ANBU she'll be able to create a "new self" since she has to keep her true identity hidden behind a mask. _I wonder if Yoshi is a chuunin by now…_

Akai is lost in her thoughts so her feet lead the way and she doesn't notice how the landscape around her changes into a place that she knows too well. It's the pouring sound of the river that breaks the spell enchanting her and her mind gets present. _Damn…_Akai finds herself standing on the bridge near that field where she and Neji use to train. _I can't stop thinking about him…_A deep sigh leaves her mouth as she leans against the bridge's fence.

"What happened Neji?" She utters out loud. "…Why did it turn out like this?"

It has bothered her a lot since she knows that Neji isn't a person who would avoid you without a reason. Her pride has somehow kept her from figure it out but if she continues like this she'll surely lose him as a friend. _Everything changed after the meeting with his uncle; Hyuuga Hiashi…_ Akai turns her face to the sky. She can still recall the way he looked at her with arrogance, pride and a self-righteous air around him. _What kind of man is he?_ A lump of uneasiness takes form in her stomach but she swallows it down.

"It doesn't matter." Akai mutters her self while trying to shake off her uneasiness, but it just increases her worry about Neji. _He's the one ignoring me so why do I care?_ Akai snorts. _Because I'm __**in love**__ with him __**baka!**_ Akai touches her forehead. "I need to get away from this place…my head…"

Akai turns her back to the beautiful view and starts walking elsewhere in a quick manner. Time passes by quickly and she decides to end her walk when her tiredness is starting to invade her senses again. Akai yawns loudly. She arrives at her hotel and Akai touches the door handle, her expression turns bitter.

"It's locked…" Akai sighs.

She sits down and leans her back against the door while she puts her arms around her knees to keep herself warm. _Just my luck…_She glances at the rising sun at the horizon before she closes them.

* * *

**Some days later, **the weak beams of the rising sun makes the forest look as if it's bathing in an orange light. The wetness in the air has created a small, see-through mist that covers the ground and the village is just about to wake up from its sleep. Akai, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Asuma are currently training together in the forest and they've soon reached the end of their morning work out.

Akai stops her training as the loud cry of an eagle breaks the silence around her. The large bid circulates above her head as if it wants to tell her something but she has no clue about what. The jounin looks up as well and exhales a large cloud of smoke.

"The Hokage is calling for us." Asuma tells them after regarding the stoic bird.

The eagle flies down and lands on the smoking man's arm and the ninja notices the small letter attached to its leg. Asuma takes the note and reads it silently.

"Does it say what it's about?" Shikamaru asks his sensei while stretching his sore muscles.

"No, just ´c_ome quickly´_…." Asuma re-reads the note.

"I've…I've a bad feeling about this." Ino murmurs quietly.

The four shinobi looks at each other for a moment before they decides to end their training to find out what the letter is all about.

* * *

**Akai **notices it directly when she, and the rest of her current team, enters the Hokage´s office; something is very wrong. Something else that hits her is that they are not the only team there and she turns away out of a reaction as she notices the strong scent of Hyuuga Neji in there. Her heart aches a little at this but she decides to act indifferent and cool. His presence shocked her somewhat and she acted without thinking first, she hadn´t expected to meet him like that.

"Shikamaru, do you know what's happened?" An excited Inuzuka Kiba asks him.

"I've no idea, but it seems to be something _really_ troublesome…." The genius is quick to complain.

"I hope it's an A-mission or something, dattebayo!" Naruto tells them in the same mood as Kiba.

"You are all right." Lee tells them. "Something tells me that a great challenge is up ahead! But don't worry! The beautiful green beast can do anything!"

"Calm down everybody." Shizune calls out as she end Tsunade finally enters the room.

The room grows silent quickly and a heavy atmosphere gets noticeable inside of the four walls. All the teams look at the two women with tense postures in their wait for answers. The proud Tsunade, the first female Kage in Konoha, looks through some papers in silence before she finally looks up at the people in her office.

"The Grass country is under attack. We got a letter a moment ago." Tsunade tells them bluntly to end everyone's confusion.

Several loud gasps can be heard in the room together with movements from the shinobi there but the shock strikes the only Grass kunoichi there the most. Akai´s closed eyes open slowly and they narrow as the Hokage´s words reaches her brain. The Grass ninja forgets to breathe as she's standing there in silence waiting for more information. Her heart it beating like crazy in her chest but the oxygen it's pumping to her veins makes her body ice cold with fear. Akai doesn't notice the way almost everyone in the room are looking at her because she's staring at the two women sitting at the desk. Neji glances at Akai from the corner of his eye in a calm manner but everything isn't as it seems. His white eyes look at her as if he's trying to read her and find out her thoughts.

"Who…Who's attacking?" Akai breaks the heavy silence.

"We have a reliable source tells us that the attack is lead by Orochimaru and we think therefore that Uchiha Sasuke and Kabuto must be present too." Shizune tells them while reading a letter. "It's an army of sound shinobi, it's…He has declared war."

Neji´s eyes widen a fraction as he notices the way Akai´s face turns into an almost un noticeable grimace. He finds himself looking at her face more than listening at his Hokage, which forces him to look away from the albino for a while. A silent gasp leaves Akai´s lips at the new information and she takes a small step backwards in shock and in her raging fear. Her eyes are small as the size of a pea.

"How is the situation down there? Which villages have they reached so far?" Asuma asks Tsunade.

"They've entered Grass from many directions and are currently destroying the villages close to the boarders, it seems that they are trying to wipe out the whole country." The Hokage tells them in a calm but angry voice.

"What are you going to do about it, Tsunade-sama." Sakura asks her medical sensei. "Should we….?"

"You have to send some help!" Akai interrupts in a loud voice, she sounds almost desperate. "As an alliance, we have to help each other in these situations!"

A deep sigh from Tsunade makes Akai stop talking and her expression changes as she notices the way the Hokage is moving, the sounds she's emitting and the other people in the room. Something is wrong here and Akai finds herself hating it.

"The alliance between Grass and Konoha has not been signed yet." Tsunade tells her in a low voice. "Akai, Konoha has no obligation to aid Grass in any way."

The fact hits her in the face as a painful slap and she finally lets that gasp leave her lips without hiding it. Anger starts to boil up inside of her and she finds herself shaking slightly. Is the leader of the fire country telling her that the weeks she has been here has been for nothing? The struggle Akai went through to get here lead to nothing? Her disobeying her mother, running away without telling them, and meeting this New World and still no progress? The Grass ninja is about to explode when someone else does it in her place.

"What the hell are you saying, dattebayo! Naruto shouts out loud. Everyone's eyes turns to look at Naruto instead of Akai. "Do you mean that we can't go to take Sasuke back? We have finally found him again and you want us to just see how he slips through our fingers?"

"Naruto…" Akai murmurs in sync with Sakura.

Akai´s anger turns to sadness somewhat when she thinks about Naruto and his relationship with Uchiha Sasuke. She has never known Sasuke, only met him once, and she can't really understand the way Naruto misses the Uchiha. Akai feels for him though and finds her and his reason to go to aid the Grass enough to get it done. Akai meets Naruto´s eyes for a moment and the two of them looks at each other; seeing each other's desperation.

"Hokage-sama, this is a great opportunity to find Uchiha Sasuke and start the alliance." Akai starts to talk loudly, putting everything on the line. "If you decline… I doubt that Grass will ever forgive you."

The room grows eerie silent as everybody waits for the Hokage´s reply and possible order.

"Isozaki Akai, I'm sorry but Konoha can't do what you ask for at this moment."

"What?!" Ino shouts.

Akai´s eyes narrow for a moment before she closes them in silence.

"Granny Tsunade! You can't be serious!" Naruto screams out loud.

"Naruto! Do you want to risk the citizens of Konoha?!" She yells to shut him up, and she succeeds. "I forbid you to act on your own in this matter!"

Tsunade looks at Akai from the corner of her eye while she searches through some documents. The Hokage thinks that the girl is really calm compared to the reaction she got earlier, almost too calm.

"Dismissed."

* * *

**Everyone** exits the office in silence but Akai notices the way that they are somehow pitying her. A frown graces her face as she walks together with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji down the streets and she avoids eye contact with the Konoha shinobi. Her insides are screaming with anger and fear so she doesn't dare to risk letting that show. She's all jumpy with desire to run away.

"Hey, I've to go." She tells her friends.

"Akai…?" Ino murmurs while she pats her friend on the shoulder.

"I've to sleep this off. I´ll see you guys tomorrow?" She explains, hoping that her lie will fool them.

"Okay, but we're here if you want to talk ok?" Ino tells her softly.

"Thank you. You guys are really great." Akai smiles weakly. _Will I ever see them again?_

"Take care." Shikamaru tells her with a grin,

"Don't forget to eat before you go to sleep, you should never sleep on an empty stomach!"

"Don't worry, Chouji, I won't! Bye!" She forces herself to laugh.

Akai waves her hand as she continues to walk alone towards her hotel. The way Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji cares for her makes her decision harder to make. She forces her body to walk calmly until the large buildings hide her being from her fellow shinobi. Akai starts to run towards her hotel with all her heart.

* * *

**Kumori **jumps by surprise when Akai literally dashes through the doorway of her hotel. The black-haired girl is just about to greet her but Akai doesn't stop, she runs up the stairs in a hurry. Kumori leans over the desk and she can soon hear noises from Akai´s room above her and it doesn't take five minuets before Akai has descended again together with her pole and a packed backpack.

"Kumori…!"

Akai doesn't explain anything as she throws herself at her friend and hugs her tightly. Kumori returns the hug in a very hesitant manner since she knows that Akai wouldn't just hug her out of the blue.

"Akai…what's wrong? You're shaking."

"Something happened and I…I've to go, okay? Here's the key."

Akai let go of Kumori and hands her the key to her room. It feels really strange to return the key since Akai feels that it's like a good bye. Kumori´s eyes looks at the key before she accepts it. The blonde ninja nods slowly before she turns around and runs toward the door. Kumori´s calm expression turns into one of confusion.

"Akai!!!!"

Kumori jumps once again as the Grass kunoichi shuts the door behind her back quite violently. It doesn't take long before Rima´s screaming can be heard and her dad enters the lobby with the baby in his arms.

"What that Isozaki-san? What's whit the rush?"

"I've no idea…" _Is she returning home…? _

The two Shirakawa members look at each other with confusion and Kumori frowns. She doesn't like where everything is going and she understands that she needs to find out the reason behind her friends odd behaviour before it's too late.

* * *

**Cold **air hits her face as she leaves her home in Konoha. She keeps on running quickly down the alleyways and her steps echo between the tall buildings that are surrounding her from every direction. People turns around as she passes them by on the streets and she can smell the scent of ramen in the air. But her stress and fear makes her almost miss the lovely smell of her favourite food here in the fire country. The great wall that's surrounding Konoha gets visible in front of her and she increases her speed.

Akai notices a strong chakra immediately and her senses scream with strange emotions like regret, anger, fear and…love. Hyuuga Neji is standing there, near the Konoha gates, looking at her and she understands that he can be the one that'll stop her from returning to her home. _Why would he care? _Akai shakes her head mentally as she continues to run past him as she believes that he won't do anything to stop her. She glances at his silhouette from the corner of her eyes in the moment she passes him and a thrill of electricity runs through her as their eyes meet for the first time after their argument. _Sayonara Neji. _Akai lowers her gaze and adds some chakra to her feet. _We'll not meet again…_

"Akai!"

Akai gasps as she feels how a strong hand grabs her arm forces to stop in her tracks. She didn't see that coming. Akai breathes hard as she turns around to see that Hyuuga Neji stands there looking at her with a pair of silver eyes, full of emotion. Akai´s slightly opened eyes narrow at this and she's brought out of her panic for the moment. His face, this closeness and his touch makes her insides burn.

"Akai you can't go." Neji tells her in a very cold and stern voice, but this isn't the way he feels. He's afraid that he'll lose her if she leaves.

"I've to go, don't you understand?" Akai breathes hard as she tries to pull her arm out of his grip, she feels that she's in a hurry and that Neji´s approach makes her lose her goal somewhat. It makes her angry. Sure she's glad that he did something to stop her but it makes her mad at the same time.

"Hokage-sama ordered you to stay." He makes it sound as if he stopped her since he was told to do so.

"Tsunade-sama isn't my leader!" Akai nearly shouts at him but she looks away in shame when she understands that she's somewhat disrespectful toward the leader of Konoha. She looks up at Neji once again with defiance in her expression. "It's my home we are talking about, I want to help them. But why do _you_ care?"

Akai finally asked what she was thinking about all along and she regrets it immediately after the words left her lips. She tries once again to create a distance between them but his grip on her doesn't loosen at all.

"Just let me go." She almost pleas.

"…I don't want you to go." Neji tells her suddenly. The all too proud Hyuuga finally lets some of his true emotions shine through his mask as he understands that his usual methods to persuade people to do the _right _thing won't work with her.

This makes Akai stay still for once and she turns toward Neji as if she's silently asking him what he said or doubting what she think she heard. Surprise hits her in the face as she understands that she heard right and her thoughts change direction for a moment._ I thought he didn't care about me…_This make her even more confused since his behaviour these last days made her doubt it. Akai, who suddenly gets embarrassed, looks at the ground as she searches for the right words. She likes the way Neji tells her that he cares but she can't let that stop her from going. Akai frowns as she looks up at Neji´s face with squinting eyes, a new determination shines in her eyes.

"Neji…my goal with this life is to be able to serve my country as a full-fledged ninja. I want to be able to live a normal life…and to fight alongside my fellow shinobi without losing to my albinism or bringing them down in anyway. If I turn back now and _run_ when Grass is under attack… I would _never_ be able to **forgive** _myself!"_

Neji´s eyes widen at this and his grip on her sleeve gets weaker unconsciously. The way Akai looks at him, the way she speaks and her whole being in that moment makes him want to keep her close and protect her, but the desperation and life in her usually misty and distant eyes tells him to let her go. He never thought that someone's teary eyes would make him feel so much at the same time. The stoic Hyuuga fights to keep his emotions under control as the green cloth of her jacket slips through his fingers.

He never knew that his heart could ache this way, all these _strange emotions_, but he can't deny that he doesn't feel it. Neji watches Akai´s back as she runs towards the Konoha gates and he has to clench his fists to keep himself from going after her. He knows that a Konoha shinobi can't ignore the Hokage´s orders even though they could lose their lives obeying them. He has never found a rule worth breaking before.

The feeling of that he'll never see her again invades his senses and he finds himself hating the cage that keeps him standing there.

* * *

**AN; What do you think? I can´t wait to continue!!! If you wants to be nice and leave a review, please answer this questions. If you´ve time to. 1. What do you think Neji will do now? 2. Do you think Hiashi will become a problem in later chapters? 3. What do you think Naruto will do now when he knows where Sasuke is? I would love to hear your thoughts about this! It would also be nice if I got some more reviews, is clicking on that button that hard? I want compliments, your thoughts on the story, what I´ve done wrong or just plain statements. R&R! **


	15. Chapter 15

**AN; thank you for the reviews! Enjoy Chapter 15

* * *

****Rushed **steps, panting and several metallic sounds break the silence of the forest. Akai has been running non-stop without looking back once since the morning but the journey between Konoha and her Grass village will still take at least twenty-four more hours. _What will I see if I arrive too late?_ Akai groans as she swings her pole against the ground violently. The strong vibrations create a map inside of her head and she avoids any obstacle without any trouble. The raw strength of the vibrations makes the air vibrate somewhat, which makes it look like the air is wavering around her.

Akai has been away from home for a long time now and this wake up call made her realise how important her home really is to her. The people in Grass have always treated her as an outcast, joked about her pale skin and pink eyes, and Akai almost thought that she didn't care about them. But the thought of her village burning in the flames of war makes her regret all the bad thinks she thought about its citizens before.

_Mother…_Akane, Akai´s mother, the thought of her being hurt motivates the albino to run even faster through the forest. _Gosai-chan…_She can almost see the worried, sad and scared expression of her little brother when she thinks of him. _He must be so frightened now, and_ _Aoi…_Akai can't deny that she is worried about the jounin even though he is a greater shinobi than she is. _Stupid older brother, make sure to protect our family until I arrive! _

She decides to use the thick branches of the trees and jumps up not too gracefully in the air. The stress and tension makes her moves uncharacteristically stiff and edgy. _I need to remember what Neji taught me…about grace and gentleness in my moves..._Akai frowns. _…Neji. Will I ever be able to see him again? _Akai is well aware of that Grass doesn't stand a chance against Sound so the possibility of her dying exists. People have always been dying around her, it's normal in the life of a ninja, and Akai has never feared death. But you can't really say that you fear or understand anything when you've not been in that same situation. Death must be horrible when you're about to face it. Akai scowls as she continues her travel towards home. _I´ll…probably never get the chance to tell him…_She shakes her head. _Maybe that's better…

* * *

_**Tsunade **sits behind her desk with a cup of saké in her hands while looking through the documents the leader of Grass sent her once again. No matter how many times she looks at it; she can't find a reason why Orochimaru would want to attack Grass. The Hokage scratches the back of her head as a deep sigh leaves her lips. Her old team mate´s way to using war to obtain the power he wants keeps on getting closer to Konoha, it's a matter of time before he attacks his old home too.

She looks at the documents from team 8´s, plus Akai, mission. _Why would they prepare traps around Konoha if they were aiming for Grass? I can't see the reason behind it. _Tsunade frown as she reads the summary that Shino gave her but it gives her more questions than answers. _If they were after Naruto, wouldn't their goal be Konoha? _The Hokage puts away the documents with a sigh before she calls for her assistant.

"Shizune, go and get Shikamaru. I need his advice on this."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

The woman disappears quickly in a cloud of smoke. Shizune´s quickness makes Tsunade understand how alert her assistant really is and the realisation makes the bitter taste of war stronger. She has been sitting inside of her office all day long, planing how Konoha could back up Grass without risking her people's safety. Akai´s angry face doesn't leave her mind.

"_Hokage-sama, this is a great opportunity to find Uchiha Sasuke and start the alliance." _Akai told her in a very serious voice._ "If you decline… I doubt that Grass will ever forgive you."_

Tsunade caresses her forehead in an attempt to ease her growing headache. She knows that the Grass ninja is right, and that doing what she told her would be great since you'll solve two problems in one go. But Tsunade knows that this will become a mission involving Uchiha Sasuke and wants therefore think everything through before she sends any back up. A certain team of ninja is already fighting with their emotions just knowing about their lost team mate´s current location, how will those emotions affect them during battle?

"You called." Shikamaru states as he and Shizune appear out of a large cloud of smoke.

The teen's posture tells Tsunade that something is wrong. The always lazy Shikamaru stands in front of her in an alert manner, looking at her as if he's waiting for orders to obey. He looks almost excited, or ready, to go.

"What's wrong Shikamaru?"

"Isozaki Akai left the village."

Shikamaru seems surprised that the Hokage saw through him that quickly and he answers the question quite hesitantly. _Don't she know…?_Tsunade´s eyes narrow as she gets to know about Akai. The way the albino girl acted earlier must have been that she decided to not listen to her orders and to run away instead; no mater what Tsunade said about it. _Well I can't really blame her…_Tsunade sighs once again. A loud noise outside catches the three's attention.

"What's that sound?" Shizune asks after a while.

"It's Naruto; screaming that he wants to follow her." Shikamaru nods towards the door. "Everybody is ready to take off."

"Shikamaru!" Tsunade exclaims in an irritated voice. "You can't head out without…"

"I've a plan." Shikamaru interrupts the leader of Konoha with a smirk on his lips.

The fact that the lazy Nara interrupted her makes Tsunade look at him with a more focused gaze. His eyes seem more present, his pose tells her that he is ready for a mission and he's alert. The change in Shikamaru makes a smile grown on Tsunade´s lips, she thinks that it's amusing to see him act this way.

"You were never this serious about other _rescue Sasuke missions_, what made you change your mind?"

"I've never been close to the Uchiha and lacked motivation but there's more at stake this time." Shikamaru tells the Hokage truthfully with a serious expression.

"I see." Tsunade nods. "Nara Shikamaru; you'll be the leader for this mission and chose the best men for your plan."

* * *

**Everyone **looks at Shikamaru when he enters the hallway. Some, like Naruto and Kiba, dashes toward Shikamaru with desperate expressions while a certain Hyuuga stands leaning on the wall looking somewhat composed. Well, he looks cool on the outside but his inside is just as panicked as his two fellow ninja.

"What did she say?" Naruto breaks the silence.

The atmosphere around them grows tense as everybody in the hallway waits for an answer and this tension makes the lazy shinobi shrug. He is starting to get sick of this feeling and decides to break the news.

"I'm the leader for this mission and…."

Relieved sighs interrupts Shikamaru´s speech and he can't help but smile weakly. Even though this mission can be sees as a _rescue Sasuke mission _he still feels that a larger part of his friends is willing to do this to help Akai and Grass. All eyes turn to him.

"… I need; Inuzuka Kiba. Your sensitive nose will keep us alert and ready for an attack."

The brown-haired dog boy smirks broadly at this and Akamaru barks. The challenge excites him since he thinks that he still has to make up to Akai, she saved him and Akamaru; now it's his turn to save her.

"Rock Lee. Your stamina will be needed."

Rock Lee smiles cheerfully at this and makes thumbs up towards Shikamaru. He was hurt during the rescue Sasuke act so he feels thrilled to be able to go on this mission where even more lives is at stake.

"Uzumaki Naruto and…"

This seems to bring back the life and light to Naruto´s blue eyes and he nods with a smile. He's the only one that has two motives with this mission, one; to help Akai in the war against Orochimaru and two; to bring Uchiha Sasuke back for good.

"Hyuuga Neji. I want your Byakugan to…find Akai."

Shikamaru´s eyes narrow as he notices the way Neji looks at him; with a pair of intense eyes he has never seen before. He has always known about Akai´s relationship with the Hyuuga but has never really cared before; but something about the older man in front of him tells Shikamaru that he is ready for this war. The aura that surrounds Neji makes Shikamaru believe that he would have gone after Akai no matter what the Hokage said, even though he would have to break rules to do so. Deciding that Neji´s emotions for Akai isn't something he should pay attention to, Shikamaru turns to look at his team.

"You've thirty minuets to prepare, meet me near the gate."

"Hai!" Naruto, Lee and Kiba chants in unison.

Everyone exits the Hokage´s tower in a hurry and leaves the Nara all alone there in the hallway. He runs his fingers through his ponytail with a serious expression on his face, he's going through the plan once again; to make sure that there are no flaws. A pained expression grows on his face as he recalls the last time he fought against Sasuke, how everyone in his team got severely hurt. _That'll…_Shikamaru frowns. _I won't let that battle repeat itself. _

"Haaah…_Troublesome."_ He sighs loudly.

* * *

**The** great Hyuuga compound's silence breaks as Neji walks through the front door. He's walking but the peace he's using is far too quick from his usual one. He is in a great hurry. The wooden floor creaks under his feet as he enters the building and he continues to walk down the long corridor. He stops in front of a room in the centre of the building, outside one of those thin doors made out of paper.

"Hiashi-sama." He makes his presence known.

"Enter."

Neji pushes open the door and enters in silence. He takes off his shoes before he sits down on his knees in front of his uncle. Neji is sure to keep a polite distance between himself and the older Hyuuga before he looks him in the eye with a steady gaze full self-confidence.

"I'm leaving to aid Grass in the war against Sound."

Hiashi doesn't react at all since the news about the war has already reached him and the clan. He finds it natural that the Hokage to ask for the best shinobi to act as back up and Hyuuga Neji is indeed one of the most skilled members of the Hyuuga clan.

"Who's leaving with you?" He asks Neji without any kind of signs of interest in hit tone.

"Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba and Rock Lee." Neji answers indifferently.

"When will you be back?"

"It's not decided yet."

"Hn." Hiashi looks at Neji sternly."…Then good luck."

"Arigatou."

A conversation between family members should be a talk with a comfortable aura around them but they're tense and alert. Neji bows respectfully before he takes a step back, turns around and leaves Hiashi alone in the chamber. He's able to relax somewhat when he exits the building and the wind caresses his face gently. The low sound of panting can be heard and Neji notices from the corner of his eye how his cousins Hinata and Hanabi are fighting each other on the Hyuuga´s private training ground. Just when he's about to leave Hinata notices him and calls his name.

"N-Neji nii-san!"

Hinata runs up to him while Hanabi continues to practise her gentle fist by herself, the smaller girl acts very indifferent towards Neji. The purple-haired girl pants softly as she reaches him. Neji feels slightly irritated that he has to stop once again and waste valuable time but doesn't blame Hinata.

"Hinata-sama…" Neji greets her with a emotionless expression on his face.

"Y-y-you're going a-after her…right?"

A small gasp leaves Hinata´s lips as she sees how her cousin's expression turns from controlled and indifferent to something she never has seen him display before. Neji has always acted like an emotionless and cold stone towards her, well after the time when she was kidnapped as a child, and this change takes her out of balance. He stands there in front of her with a tense body language and is looking at her as if her interruption is taking too much valuable time. He's in a hurry to leave, which is very clear to Hinata. _He's in a hurry to catch up to her…_ Neji hides his feelings as he notices that his true thoughts are visible and his blank facade is there again.

"I've to leave now." Neji explains to her in a voice that doesn't allow any further questions.

"O-okay…" She stutters.

Neji gives Hinata one last glance over his shoulder as he's walking away from her. _I've never seen him act this restless before…_Hinata steps back as she follows her cousin's back as he passes through the gates surrounding the compound. _I thought that no one would be able to make him act that way… Akai means more to him than I first thought. _Hinata doesn't know if she should feel happy or sad about that realisation.

"Where is Neji going?" Hanabi asks her older sister.

Hinata, who didn't expect her sister's presence, jumps at the sudden question. Hanabi´s white eyes widen a little as her big sister looks at her in a way she has never done before. This gaze makes her believe that Neji is somehow violating some rules or doing something, if she knew what it was, wrong. Hinata is quick to look away and she focuses her eyes on the ground.

"Onee-san? Why is Neji in such a rush?" Hanabi asks her suspiciously.

"I-It´s a m-mission."

* * *

**Her **steps get quicker as she starts to recognise her surroundings. The large forest of bamboo trees, which she used as a training ground, surrounds her. Signs from battles can be found everywhere and it makes her insides turn. People have been fighting that close to the hidden door to her home village. _Have they already…?_ An intense wave of chakra makes her stop her movements and she sharpens her senses to see what is happening.

Akai decides to follow he strong trace of chakra and is careful to hide her presence as she walks into the forest. The person hiding is far more powerful than she is and Akai proceeds with caution. It doesn't take long for her to find the source of the power and she hides behind a tree to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"They've found the entrance." A familiar voice utters. "They had hidden it well."

"So they were just waiting inside of the village?" Another mutters. "Pathetic."

These two voices are oddly familiar to her but she doesn't remember them immediately. Akai frowns as she tries to remember when she last heard them and her eyes narrow as the realisation hits her.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Akai blurts out as she remembers one of the three men there.

The soft whistle in the winds tells her that he the three men has turned around and is looking at her. Akai sweat drops anime style, she just blown her cover. Sasuke looks at her with an indifferent expression and shows no sign of remembering her.

"You." Kabuto addresses her.

_Just great…they found me. _Akai curses mentally.

"Do you know this girl, Ssssasuke-kun?" The third voice asks.

Akai shivers as the voice, which sounds much like the sound of a snake, reaches her over sensitive ears. She gets a bad feeling about this man and grips her pole, silently using its vibrations to see.

"We've no time to waste. Move aside, girl."

"If you're looking for a village to demolish, you've to beat me first."

Akai frowns as a deep chuckle leaves the snake man's mouth as an amused hissing sound. Every limb in Akai´s body tickles as she realises that he's laughing at her and she feels really humiliated. They're clearly underestimating her, like all the rest.

"You think you can win?" The snake asks her with a smirk.

"Who knows." Akai shrugs. _All I've to do is to keep them from finding my village._

She pulls forth her pole and a loud, metallic sound starts to echo between the bamboo trees until she stops the sound with a simple movement of her free hand. The power of the sound surprises Orochimaru and his grin widens somewhat as Akai gets into her fighting position.

"Oh… you use sound? Interesting. Ssssasuke-kun, ssshe´s all yours."

"But Orochimaru-sama…this will delay our schedule." Kabuto objects.

"Ryu and Kim-Jeong are already heading towards the village with the rest. We´ll join them there. Ssssasuke-kun, catch up with us when this is over."

"No! Don't go!"

Akai´s confident expression falls apart when she learns that they're leaving and she dashes after them. Kabuto smirks in her direction and that's the last thing she sees before she's knocked out of balance by Sasuke all of a sudden. _Damn…_She twists her body in the air and is able to land on her feet. The Uchiha is standing in front of her and his cold body language and pose tells her that he won't let her pass to stop his companions. _That snake man and Kabuto will destroy…no! I've to beat Sasuke, quickly. I'm still not too late…_Akai forces herself to not lose to her depression and desperation. _I´ll be able to aid them! _Another strong metallic sound can be heard as she swings it against the ground; using the vibrations to get a picture of Sasuke´s location. Sasuke stares her down.

"I won't give you any mercy even if you get on your knees and begs for it." Sasuke tells her in a cold tone.

"Why would I beg for mercy?" Akai chuckles with raging anger and desire to fight. " I'm partly blind but am equally strong as a ninja with splendid sight!"

"Hn." Sasuke snorts. "Even _splendid eyes _won't beat my **Sharingan**!"

Akai can't help but let a loud gasp pass through her lips as she sees how a pair of blood red eyes stares at her. The crimson colour is able to surpass her misty sight and the clear picture of them creates a shiver that runs down her spine. She finds herself facing another version of Byakugan and it makes her doubt her abilities for a second, what if Sasuke is right? What if she can't surpass a ninja with better eyes than the average? _Okay…this is my final test; am I suited to be a ninja?_ Akai swallows her saliva and a calm expression takes over her earlier worried face.

"Let's do this!"

* * *

**Akai´s** eyes widen as she feels how the cold blade pierces her stomach and it takes some time for her to understand what just happened. Misty eyes turn small as a grain of sand as she sees the handle of Sasuke´s blade pointing out from her body. Blood sippers through the wound and her sensible skin feels how her clothes starts to get wet both on her back and at her stomach. Pain doesn't invade her senses until she finally grasps the fact that he has hit her. A silent gasp leaves Akai´s bloody red lips and she pants for oxygen as she looks up at Sasuke.

He stands there, looking down at her, with emotionless eyes while holding his sword in place; through her body. He stands so close to her that a simple movement would make their skin touch.

"…N-Nande?" Akai stutters, she's not able to talk normally due to the intense pain. _Why couldn't I see his attack?_

Their battle flashes before her eyes as she ponders over what went wrong. Her Baibore-Shon jutsu was able to detect Sasuke´s every move and avoid them but… _He didn't fight seriously…and…ended the battle so easily._ Akai curses herself. _He must have fought like this back then too, when we first met. _Sasuke made her believe that he was weaker than he really is, she thought that she had the advantage but was tricked, just like that. _I'm so…stupid. I thought that I could actually win._

Sasuke´s eyes glows in a red light as he pulls out the sword from her body in a careless manner. Blood colour his white Gi red as the wound is opened and it doesn't take long until Akai falls down to her knees in front of him due to her blood loss. Akai tries to stop the flow of blood with her hands desperately but her hands can't stop shaking. The pain starts to take away her senses slowly and she finds herself lost in darkness even though her eyes, ears and sense of smell are on full alert. Akai can't feel anything as her life is slowly slipping through her fingers.

"Where did that confidence of yours go?" He asks her coldly with a hint of a smirk on his lips. "Don't worry thought, I didn't hit any vital organ."

Akai fights to stay upright as her head starts to become really dizzy and heavy. Breathing has become a problem for her and the lack of air makes her lungs burn, her head spin and her control of her body is soon lost. _Am I going to die like this…? _Panic starts to rage inside of her at the thought of dying._ Without meeting everyone again?_ Akai coughs blood. _My life has just started, damn…

* * *

_**AN; Wow, that was fun to write. A cliffhanger!!! Hope you enjoyed it too. As I said, Things are starting to move now. Ryu and Kim-Jeong are OCs since I couldn´t use any of Orochimaru´s original companions. (Spoiler if you´ve not seen/read the anime/manga after the Chuunin exam)I wanted Kimimaro, but he´s dead, I wanted to use team Snake but then I have to kill Asuma... So I decided to create two of my own bad guys. You´ll meet them in chapter 16. If you´ve any questions/ideas or requests about this story so please tell me. I might be able to help. R&R **


	16. Chapter 16

**AN; I've once again found a story with an OC just like my Akai, and I feel really depressed about it. It's great that you like Akai but by to copying her, you won't gain anything. **

**Things will start to move now! You'll meet new and old OCs, Neji will slowly realise his feelings for Akai and even more trouble will haunt them… Drama is sure fun to write.

* * *

****Isozaki Aoi** frowns as he regards how a great army forces itself through the gates of the Grass village. The men seems to be either in chuunin or jounin level but it's not the army that's making Aoi worry; it's the two men who's leading it. Aoi´s dark brown, almost black, eyes turn to his mother and little brother after a quick analysis of the upcoming battle.

"Mother, take Gosai-chan to the academy, they'll keep him safe. The hospital will need you in ten minutes."

"Is it…that bad?" Akane asks her oldest child.

Aoi glances at Gosai who's hugging his mother's leg with a scared expression on his face before he nods in Akane´s direction. There's no way that a small ninja country like Grass would be able to win against a threat like that. They've only started to turn their villages into one that are protected by shinobi so their number is not as great as the army they're facing. Not even close to it.

"Now, go to safety!" Aoi tells them in a rushed tone.

Akane obeys her son and takes Gosai by the hand as they dash through the crowd of ninja towards the academy. Aoi tense shoulders gets a little more relaxed when they're gone and he focuses his whole attention to the army coming his way. A pair of grey, foreign looking, eyes stand out from the crowd and Aoi finds himself regardingthe two men that he presumes is in a higher rang than the others.

One of them has chocolate brown hair pulled back into a loose and long ponytail. His hair on his head though, is shorter and wilder, while two longer tresses frames his good-looking face. The Sound shinobi seems to be around Aoi´s age, take or give a year, but his face still looks like one of a young and innocent boy. He wears a grey long jacket and a pair of black shorts, a large katana is resting on his back. His long and slim body tells everybody of his speed and ability to evade but Aoi ponders if he's able to wield that sword. _He doesn't look Japanese…_

The other man seems to be the other's opposite. His well-built and compact body shows his physical strength while his lack of speed seems to slow him down somewhat. His blood red hair separates him from the others together with his ocean blue eyes but it's not those traits that captures Aoi´s interest; it's the scar on his face. The scar travels from his left eyebrow, down over his eye and ends where his left ear should have been located. _This guy…seems to be really experienced in fighting…_The redhead is dressed in a tight sleeveless top, a pair of orange baggy trousers with his forehead protector as a belt. A pair of brown, high boots cover his feet and legs.

People has always told Aoi that he's good at judging people after one glance; and the feeling he gets while looking at these two men isn't a good sensation. The aura around them creates Goosebumps on his skin and he realises that they're the largest threat.

"Aoi-senpai!"

Aoi flinches as a hand touch his shoulder and he finds himself looking into a pair of yellow, cat like eyes. Yoshi and Kanaye, his younger sister's team mates, are by his side looking at him with different expressions. Yoshi seems worried while the quiet Kanaye looks rather indifferent on the back of his horse.

"You spaced out, are you alright senpai?" Yoshi asks his idol.

"I'm fine." Aoi tells them.

"A great battle is ahead of us." Kanaye states in a calm manner.

Aoi who understands that the younger man saw through his answer nods silently. Kanaye caresses the animal he's riding in a gentle manner as vibrations in the ground reaches them; vibrations created by the army ahead of them. It doesn't take long before they're standing face to face with the Sound shinobi. The tension in the air is heavy but both sides stand still in silence while regarding the other. All the Grass ninja flinch as the foreign Sound ninja pulls out his katana and gets into a fighting pose none of them has witnessed before. His grey eyes sparkle as he orders his fellow ninja to take the first dangerous step into the war. The sound of metal against metal can be heard, gasps of fear too and a lot of deep breaths. Aoi frowns before he throws himself towards the closest enemy, slicing his throat easily.

The attack against Grass's capital has now started.

* * *

**A **loud bark breaks the silence and Kiba is quick to turn his full attention to his dog. He doesn't get the chance to ask Akamaru what's wrong because a strong scent of blood makes his nose almost burn by the mere smell of it. He snorts before he squeezes his nose to shield his oversensitive sense of smell against the terrible iron scent

"Kiba, What's wrong?" Shikamaru asks him.

"The smell of blood lingers everywhere. " Kiba tells them in a low but serious voice. "A battle took place further ahead. A very bloody one."

Everyone seems to react the same way; negatively. All of them know that they're at war but never expected it to go this far, didn't expect it to turn out to this. Kiba leads them towards the smell in a very professional manner and it doesn't take long before they pass by some corpses of both Grass and Sound shinobi.

"Are we too late?" Naruto asks them in a loud, worried voice. "Sasuke…Sasuke´s chakra …"

The blonde ninja looks at the dead with a mixed expression on his face. He has always disliked Orochimaru and his ways to get what he wants and that feelings are slowly changing into hate. Naruto is afraid that Orochimaru will trick Sasuke to become his weasel and leave nothing for him to bring back to Konoha.

"It's sad." Lee murmurs with a depressed expression. "But I'm sure that we can help when we arrive!"

Lee is always able to stay positive no matter what and the team would have fallen into a deep depression if he weren't there. The beautiful green beast pats Naruto´s shoulder in a friendly manner and is able to bring the blonde out of his dark thoughts. They smile weakly at each other and Lee makes his trademark thumbs up pose.

"Can you separate Akai´s smell from the others?" Shikamaru asks Kiba as more and more corpses show up.

Neji feels somewhat sick when he watches all the empty faces of the corpses and he finds himself searching for Akai among them. His insides turn as he sees blonde hair and the relief after understanding that it isn't her pulls at his heartstrings. He has never been this scared of losing somebody before not since the loss of his father. What would he do if he finds her here, lifeless? Neji patience has suddenly run out and he can't wait for Kiba to find her by her scent. He decides to act.

"Byakugan!"

Neji doesn't bother to speak or explain himself as he activates his bloodline in his search for answers. The world around him turns into black and white as his eyes adjust themselves. Trees passes by quickly as his sight starts to see through objects until Neji reaches the limit of his kekkei genkai.

"Neji, what do your Byakugan eyes see?" Lee asks his team mate.

A frown graces the Hyuuga´s face as he looks at their surroundings; he can't find her. He forces himself to look again and forces himself past that limit of his bloodline until his head starts to hurt. He won't give up until he finds her, alive or dead. Neji´s white eyes narrow as he finally finds the girl he has been looking for. His whole being turns ice cold and his raging emotions make his stomach tingle in a very unpleasant way. Fear strikes him like never before and it takes his breath away. Akai is on her knees, drenched by her own blood, while facing Uchiha Sasuke with a distant expression on her face. It's almost as if she's not there; only the shell of the girl he fears to lose.

"Neji?" Nauto repeats the Hyuuga´s name in a worried voice. "What do you see?"

Neji´s muscles tense as he hears Naruto´s question but he doesn't face him as he answers it. His white all seeing eyes are glued on the scene that no one but him can see. He is afraid that she'll shatter into tiny pieces if he looks away.

"Akai and…_Uchiha Sasuke_."

Shikamaru glances in Neji´s direction as he notices how the Hyuuga utters Sasuke´s name. But it's not only Neji that's boiling with emotions and Shikamaru can't help but glance at Naruto too. The blonde looks shocked and lost and a bad feeling invades the lazy genius's body. Shikamaru shakes his head mentally and looks into the distance.

"Let's go! We have no time to lose."

* * *

**A **pair of blue eyes narrows as Naruto finally sees the scene in front of him. Sasuke is towering over Akai with one of his katana in his hands. The sword drenched in her blood. His old team mate's posture makes him think that he's just about to execute her. Shikamaru, Lee and Kiba arrive and all three of them stare at the scene with narrowed eyes. Akamaru starts to growl in a very dangerous manner as he feels his master's tense body language. The atmosphere around them makes the large dog's behaviour change to fit it.

"SASUKE, DON'T DO IT!" Naruto yells out of breath.

Sasuke´s onyx eyes turn to face Naruto for a second but his body is punched away by a powerful attack out of nowhere. His body is thrown into the air but Sasuke is able to land on his feet rather easily. His eyes widen a fraction as he sees how Hyuuga Neji has appeared between him and the Isozaki girl, Neji is in a defensive pose that he has never witnessed before. Sasuke frowns as he jumps back to create a greater distance between him and the Konoha shinobi. His situation has suddenly turned worse.

Lee is quick to react when Akai starts to fall and the green beast uses his speed to slide across the grass and catch her before she touches the ground. His fingertips turn red as he holds her and the amount of lost blood worries Lee. Pulling forth a piece of bandage from his bag, Lee starts to stop the bleeding carefully. His eyes narrow as he notices how deep the wound is and he understands that Akai´s condition isn't as good as he thought it was.

"Akai-san, how are you feeling?" He asks her gently in a polite tone.

Lee keeps on bandaging Akai but he glances at her face when no reply can be heard. Her white-ish blonde hair looks dirty, her face is paler than usual, her eyes are closed, her lips is in a purple colour and she looks so fragile in his arms. Lee´s thick brows twitch at this and he shakes her body carefully, trying to coax a response from her.

"…Akai-san?" He utters her name in a louder voice.

Neji, who has been watching Sasuke with anger, can't help but glance over his shoulder at Akai when no answer is heard. His Byakugan eyes are wide open and the veins around his eyes seem to grow by every passing second. His gaze flutter between Akai´s face to Lee´s. His team mate looks at him in a way that confirms his worries; Akai is severely hurt.

"We have to take her to a hospital, I don't know how long she'll last without any treatment!" Lee tells everybody, but his eye doesn't leave Neji´s, the hint of pain in them surprises Lee somewhat.

Sasuke stands still while looking at the ninja in front of him in a very cold and indifferent way. He seems to feel no pain even though several scratches and cuts can be spotted on his body. They are nothing compared to the damage he inflicted on Akai but would be enough to make him feel it. Kiba´s expression turns ugly at the lack of emotion in Sasuke´s eyes. He has never liked the guy and this won't exactly make his hate disappear.

"You bastard!" Kiba roars angrily.

Sasuke doesn't bother to even look at Kiba because his full attention is now on Naruto; his old team mate, rival and friend. His eyes are so different compared to the time when he, Naruto and Sakura went on missions together; it's almost as if he's another person now.

"Long time no see, Naruto."

"…Sasuke."

Naruto looks at Sasuke in a strange way; he clearly doubts that Sasuke is the one who hurt Akai. The Sasuke he knows would never hurt someone like that but the team mate he is used to disappeared years ago. The change in Sasuke scares Naruto somewhat, he's even more cold and distant than before. The blonde knows that Sasuke has been through many hardships but they were always able to survive together as a team but now…it seems that his darkness has devoured him. Shikamaru curses mentally at this; everything is getting worse than he first calculated it to become and the reunion of Sasuke and Naruto will surely end in a disaster.

"Shikamaru?"

Neji calls the team captain's name in a tone that tells Shikamaru that the Hyuuga is asking what to do next. They have to bring Akai to a hospital but they can't just leave the Uchiha, Shikamaru is well aware of that fact. _Gah…this is so troublesome! _

"Kiba…Naruto, I leave this to you. Neji and Lee follow me, let's take Akai to safety!"

"Roger!" Lee shouts.

Lee hurries to get Akai´s unconscious body on his back so he can carry her better in case of an attack. Shikamaru joins Lee soon after and the two of them starts running away from the commotion. Neji stares at Sasuke a little while longer before he turns around quickly to follow his two friends. Sasuke frowns as this and is just about to come after them when Kiba and Akamaru move to block his way. A smirk grows on Kiba´s lips as he sees Sasuke´s irritated expression.

"If you want to get to them, you've to get through us first! Right Naruto?" Kiba yells confidently. His confidence fades though when his friend doesn't answer. "…Naruto?"

* * *

**Kanaye **tugs at the reins to help his loyal horse on his feet again. The white animal trusts his master fully and is quick to regain his balance, he's thanked with a gentle pat. Jade green eyes stare calmly at the redhead in front of him but Kanaye isn't that calm on the inside. The red-haired, blue eyed sound ninja has got him cornered and he has no idea how he can turn their places around.

Kanaye has come to understand that he'll never be able to inflict any damage from Riku´s back since this guy is able endure it somehow without getting injured. _He's strong…_It's easy for Kanaye to win a battle on the back of a horse when he's facing an opponent which uses attacks different than his own. His opponent is a person who uses physical strength just like himself so he has to change his tactic.

"You've fought well, Riku." Kanaye gives his horse one more pat before he slides down from the animal's back. "It's time for me to get serious."

_Raw power vs raw power might become interesting. _Kanaye put his hands together and a loud, cracking sound breaks the silence between the two fighters. It has been a long time since he battled like this and is quite thrilled to meet such an enemy as the red head. Kanaye is just about to start his attack as the other man does hand seals to a jutsu very quickly.

"Yami… Genkaku no jutsu." The red head calls out in a deep masculine voice.

Jade green eyes narrow at this. _Oh no…a genjutsu!_ Kanaye tries to avoid it by changing direction but it's too late. The genjutsu hits the Grass ninja like a wave of ice cold water and his stomach turns inside out. The coldness surprises Kanaye and day turns to night quickly, the darkness surrounds him and it's impossible to see anything. A gaps leaves his lips as all warmth leaves his being along with all his happiness and joyful memories. _This genjutsu is…erasing…it's…so cold! _

"Kai!…"Kanaye tries to break the spell before it'll take away his ability to think clearly. "Kai!… Release!"

A pair of slightly surprised blue eyes looks at him as he's finally able to escape from the technique. Kanaye sways on his two feel for a moment before the unpleasant feeling of the genjutsu has disappeared completely; his arms are full of Goosebumps. Placing his feet further apart he gets back his balance and is once again ready to fight.

"You were quick." Is the redhead's simple and indifferent statement.

"You won't take me down that easily." Kayane retorts. "Who are you?"

"…"

Something from the corner of his eye forces Kanaye to turn around and he's just in time to evade an attack from behind. His match against the redhead is interrupted by some of the other Sound shinobi and Kanaye curses out loud. He's able to counter attack with some simple moves but when he turn back to continue his fight with the redhead, he's nowhere to be found. Kanaye looks around once more.

"Kanaye!!!" A familiar voice calls out. "Stop wasting time, come and lend me a hand!! Hurry!!"

"Yoshi!"

* * *

**Aoi** has a hard time trying to keep up with the foreign looking Sound shinobi. He's extremely fast and flexible and possesses great jutsus Aoi has never seen or heard of before. He has clearly a disadvantage in this battle and his opponent is also aware of that.

"Too slow, too slow." A smirk grows on his lips.

Aoi grit his teeth as the man dodges one of his attacks again without a scratch. _I´ll tire myself out if it continues like this…_Aoi throws some shuriken at the man but he evades the attack by using his katana as a shield.

"So boring…are all Grass ninja this weak?" His smirks turn evil. "Ninpo; Katana no odori!"

Aoi´s eyes widen as the Sound ninja uses his sword and a lot of chakra to create a very powerful attack. His chakra makes the blade sharper, longer and more deadly than before and Aoi is forced to step back so he won't lose a leg or an arm.

"Kusa bunshin no jutsu!"

Several grass clones appear out of a cloud of smoke and the Aoi copies dashes forward in an attempt to stop the attack. All three of them turn into grass strands as they collide with the field of chakra that's surrounding the Korean.

"That beginner jutsu won't work! C´mon, show me something more powerful than that."

Aoi frowns at his impatience and slightly unpleasant reaction; who can be that excited during a battle? It's like he loves to risk his life, loves the danger. _This guy… is insane! Who is he?_

"What's your name?"

"I'm Kim Jeong."

"My name is…"_ Kim Jeong? That´s strange…it´s not Japanese or Chinese…_

"Don't worry I don't need to know that." Aoi´s expression changes at this and Kim Jeong chuckles. "Why should I bother to remember a person who I've killed?"

Kim Jeong childish and impulsive behaviour turns deadly serious. Aoi´s eyes narrow at this and he understands that he has to get serious now or he'll get hurt. Underneath Kim Jeong´s previous behaviour is something much darker and evil lurking.

"Kusa tatsumaki no jutsu!"

"Once again; Katana no odori!!!"

A tornado of grass strands appears around Aoi and surrounds him from every direction. With a simple movement of his hand does the tornado grow in size and power before it starts moving towards Kim Jeong. Kim Jeong´s sword dance cuts through the tornado in a way Aoi could never have guessed. But he doesn't hesitate; Aoi throws himself at his opponent with a kunai in a firm grip. This surprises the Korean and he has no chance to evade, the kunai opens a wound on his arm.

"Why you!" Kim Jeong snorts angrily.

Aoi grabs the other man's wrists and by using one of his feet, get him out of balance. The Grass ninja pushes Kim Jeong against the ground and uses his own weight to keep him there.

"You lose."

"Only because you're heavier than me, that's all."

Aoi frowns, Kim Jeong´s childish behaviour is back again. He's clearly not giving his all but Aoi can't understand why. He can't grasp Kim Jeong at all; it's like he has several personalities that don't fit together or that he hides his true self.

"So what are you going to do now, huh?"

"Isn't that…obvious?" Aoi tells him in a very dark tone.

Aoi grabs the kunai again and aims for his opponent's throat. You should be scared in the moment of death but Kim Jeong doesn't even react as cold metal touches his skin. A smile grows bigger on his lips as the kunai starts to dig into his throat.

"I'm so scared!" Kim Jeong chuckles.

That statement makes Aoi hesitate but he gets no chance to think because he's kicked by Kim Jeong. The pain comes from nowhere and the Korean takes this opportunity to free himself from Aoi´s hold. He grabs his sword and starts to brush away the dirt on his clothes.

"Thank you… nameless shinobi of Grass, for an interesting battle. See you later!" And he disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Aoi stands there with a very lost expression on his face.

* * *

"**The** gates are over there!" Neji tells the others.

He has located the entrance to the Grass village by using his Byakugan and leads Lee and Shikamaru through the narrow door. The scene that greets them isn't a nice one. The whole village is under attack and several buildings have collapsed already. Ninja are running, fighting, dying in front of them and it's easy to see who'll become victorious in this battle.

"It's worse than I thought." Shikamaru murmurs.

"Akai!!" A male voice calls out with a lot of emotion.

The Konoha shinobi flinch by the sudden voice and turns to see a man running towards them. Neji is quick to take a step forward and get himself into a defensive position in case the man turns out to be an enemy. He lowers his outstretched arms as he sees the forehead protector with the Grass symbol on. The Grass ninja seems to miss their presence since his full focus is on the girl on Lee´s back.

"What happened to her?" He asks them." And who are you guys?"

"She was hurt during a fight." Shikamaru answers. "We're the shinobi from Konoha, here as back up."

Lee helps Neji to move Akai´s body from his back into the Hyuuga´s arms. Neji´s white eyes narrow as he notices how Lee´s green clothes are soaked with blood. Akai´s blood. Neji makes sure that the bandage around Akai´s stomach still is where it should before he holds her close to himself. The male Grass ninja can't help but stare at the man dressed in white robes; his way to hold and look at the girl makes him ponder over their relationship.

"We need to take her to a hospital." Lee tells them as he also notices the blood. His clothes feels wet against his skin.

"Protect the towns people and I´ll take Akai to the hospital." The man tells them; more like an order than a suggestion.

Neji takes a step back as the man reaches out for Akai; this makes the older man's eyes turn sharp and dangerous. He glares at Neji but he's once again surprised by the way the other man holds Akai. _It's almost as if he thinks that I'm a threat. This guy is getting on my nerves! _

"Who are you?" Neji asks him in a very cold voice.

"**I'm** her _brother_."

_Her brother? _Neji looks at the older man without showing his surprise. He can't see any features that resemble Akai in him, none at all. Then it hits him; Akai is different since her albinism has changed all her looks. Akai´s brother glares back at him with a stare full of distrust and suspicion.

"Neji." Shikamaru puts his hand on Neji´s shoulder; silently telling the Jounin to calm down.

"We don't have time for this. Akai needs to get to a hospital now. Take Akai." Shikamaru nods in Aoi´s direction." And Neji…make sure they'll reach the hospital without a scratch."

"Roger."

"What about us, Shikamaru?" Lee asks him.

"Our mission is to aid Grass so Lee, get ready for battle."

* * *

**AN; End of chapter. What do you think? I hope you all remembers Aoi, Kanaye and Yoshi who where mentioned in the two first chapters. ****Two new Ocs were also introduced in this chapter and I hope that it didn't confuse you. It will appear a lot of Ocs now since they've arrived in Grass, but no more main OCs. Have you found any OC that you like/ are interested in? Please tell me your thoughts of them!**

**Translation for the Japanese;**

**Kusa tatsumaki no jutsu = **Grass tornado technique.

**Katana no odori = **Sword`s dance

**Yami Genkaku no jutsu** = Darkness illusion technique

**I'm really happy that people read this story! Please Read & Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**An; Sorry for the very late update! School is killing me at the moment... but I´ve about two weeks more until I´m free so... I´ve to fight! Please enjoy chapter 17.

* * *

****Kiba** roars as he stares at the very indifferent looking Uchiha in front of him. The enigma had just nearly killed one of Kiba´s friends and he seems to feel no regret whatsoever. Anger boils up inside of him and Akamaru, who feels his master's rage, starts to bark threateningly. The two of them knows that they've to capture Sasuke alive and bring him back to Konoha but right now, Kiba feels that it would be better to bring his corps back instead.

"Naruto let's kick this moron's ass!" Kiba turns around when he gets no reply. "Naruto?"

Kiba´s eyes gets small as he sees how his blonde comrade stands there just looking at the Uchiha. Naruto is looking so confused and emotionally fragile in that moment and Kiba is quick to understand that it's Sasuke´s fault. But who wouldn't be angry if your best friend left you without a word?

"Naruto!" Kiba calls his name loudly in an attempt to break the spell.

"You're the same, Uzumaki." Sasuke utters suddenly, referring to the way Naruto acts when they meet.

Naruto´s distant eyes turn cristal blue when the Uchiha calls out his name. It's like what Kiba said had no effect while a simple statement from Sasuke easily brings him back to reality.

"Sasuke, you…" Is the blonde's only answer.

Kiba´s eyes widen even more as he notices how Sasuke prepares to strike an unprepared Naruto. He curses mentally as he throws himself in between the two rivals and blocks Sasuke´s katana with a kunai. A pair of black eyes stares into his soul when he looks his enemy in the face, yes, Kiba things of Sasuke as an enemy. An enemy he has to _save _but Tsunade didn't say that he had to be brought home in a good state. A smirk grows on Kiba´s lips and a pair of sharp fangs gets visible. Sasuke´s indifferent expression changes for a moment by this.

"Akamaru!"

Sasuke´s eyes narrow as he turns around and sees how the giant white dog is leaping towards him. The enigma tries to move out of the way but Kiba lets go of the kunai and grabs his wrist just in time to stop him. The grin on Kiba´s face doesn't stop growing, he likes where this is going.

Akamaru dashes into Sasuke with an enormous power and the though _I got him _runs through Kiba´s head. A gasp leaves his mouth as a cloud of smoke suddenly appears and he's thrown back as his dog collides with its master. _It was a bunshin! Damn! _Kiba grits his teeth as his back hits a nearby tree.

"Kiba, are you alright!?" Naruto asks his friend from the sidelines.

"What does it look like?" Kiba snorts sarcastically.

Akamaru lower his head as an apology as he steps away from Kiba´s lap but a quick pat on his head makes the dog encouraged again. The two of them glares at Sasuke for a moment before Kiba turns to look at Naruto. The blonde ninja, who Kiba always has seen as a friend and rival, stands there motionless with distant eyes once again. The lack of emotion on Naruto´s face angers the dog boy.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO" Kiba growls. The young Inuzuka hits Naruto quite violently on the head. "Open your eyes!"

"Itaaaai…..Huh?"

"Sasuke is trying to kill you and you're doing nothing!" Kiba complains. "What's wrong with you? He fucking stabbed Akai!"

Sasuke sighs as the two ninja starts to argue about him and he wonders why he's still standing there. He should hurry to follow Orochimaru and the others to the village instead of wasting his time here. But he gets no chance to flee since Kiba keeps his eyes on him and moves to block the way professionally.

"We are here to bring you back so give up." Kiba tells him without really giving Sasuke a chance to object.

"Hn"

Sasuke´s black eyes widen at the challenge in Kiba´s voice and the red and black signs of the Sharingan gets visible in his orbs. It seems that Sasuke is starting to get serious. It's once again Kiba who gets into a battle position while Naruto stands back but a glare from the Inuzuka makes him take forth a kunai.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto starts to take action.

"Yeah let´s go! Akamaru!"

Several shadow clones appear around the two Konoha ninja and the many Narutos acts as a decoy while Kiba and Akamaru prepare themselves for their trademark attack. Sasuke cuts down the clones one by one without breaking a sweat but his eyes never leave his former team mate´s face. He is silently challenging his rival to a battle and forgets about Kiba´s presence for the moment. Just like the Inuzuka wants it.

Akamaru turns into a copy of him and Kiba smirks as he and his dog charges at Sasuke from behind. The two of them jumps into the air and turns their bodies into a whirl of quick motions, they look almost as a screw, and attacks Sasuke violently. Sasuke turns around just when the two of them collides with him and the overconfident Uchiha is thrown to the ground with an extreme power.

"Got him!" Kiba yells with joy as he and Akamaru lands on the ground near Naruto. "Great work."

"It went too easy, Sasuke is not down yet." Naruto mutters.

A dark shadow rises from clouds of dust and a pair of blood red eyes stare at them with hate. Kiba frowns and takes a step back with uncertainty, he doesn't really know how to fight against the Sharingan. Naruto frowns and a certain emotion takes form in the depths in his blue eyes.

"Sasuke why don't we end this now? Follow us to Konoha and we´ll be able to solve anything…everyone wants you to come back."

"Haha." Sasuke chuckles in a very emotionless voice. "We talked about this last time Naruto. I won't return and things won't return to what it used to be. That Uchiha Sasuke you knew doesn't exist anymore."

Naruto tries to hide how much that hurts with a sigh.

"Then I´ll take you home, even if you object." Naruto tells him in a very bitter voice. "Tsunade wants to give you the village's punishment."

"…Naruto?" Kiba notices the emotion in his voice.

Two of the remaining shadow clones walks forward and starts to create a Rasengan in the original one's hand. Naruto will take Sasuke home no matter what, even if he has to punch him until he's no longer able to resist. Sasuke smirks at Naruto´s new determination and he gets into his fighting pose with his katana´s sharp edge in his opponents direction. Naruto dashes forward with a loud yell and Sasuke does the same in silence. They collide and the Rasengan creates a large cloud of smoke around them. Loud metallic and punching sounds emerges from the dust until an eerie silence takes over. Naruto is alone there when the dust disappears and Sasuke is gone.

"Oh shit, he got away." Kiba curses.

"We have to follow him." Naruto tells him as he dashes forward. "I´ll be bad if he reach the Grass village!"

"That's the spirit!" Kiba grins, glad that the Naruto he knows is back.

* * *

**Kim jeong **smirks in a very amused manner as he treats the gash on his arm with a piece of cloth. The pain makes him feel so alive and his smirk turns into a grimace. Pictured of a certain Grass ninja are replaying in his head and the Korean's desire to fight rages within him.

He's currently sitting in a tree high above the battlefield in a relaxed manner while a bloodbath takes place some meters away. The screams don't bother him though, he's used to hear screams of agony by now and they amuse him more than scaring him.

"Hey, Ryu-chan!" He calls out a red head below. "When will Orochimaru show up? He's sloooow…"

Ryu of the Tsukimori clan glances at his companion for a moment before he continues to enchant Grass ninjas with his Yami Genkaku no jutsu. He wins his battles by putting a dark genjutsu on them that forces them to see their deepest nightmares. His blue eyes turn to Kim Jeong at last.

"He's waiting in the shadows." Is his simple answer. "Uchiha has to return before it can commence."

"Heh, it's all about _Sasuke_…" Kim Jeong complains sourly. "What's so special about him anyway? And Kabuto…he´s not _that_ intelligent!"

Ryu looks at Kim Jeong but avoids his question. He doesn't want to get involved too much since he knows that the Korean's hate for Sasuke, Kabuto and devotion to Orochimaru will be his downfall. Tsukimori Ryu turns away and evades a punch, grabs the woman's wrist and twists it to force her down on her knees.

"How dare you!" She snaps at him.

An evil laugh emerges from the tree above them and the woman's eyes turn wide as she sees the man up there. He jumps down and lands gracefully on his feet next to the female ninja. Kim Jeong looks at her with a smile.

"It was you who attacked him, beautiful."

"Wha---?"

"Yami Genkaku no jutsu."

Ryu puts her under his spell and the woman falls to the ground without fighting back. The non-violent way Ryu won makes Kim Jeong pout with disappointment.

"Boring! You'll never get a girl if you treat them like that. You could have played with her a little."

"I'm not like you." Ryu answers in a cold voice, clearly stating that Kim Jeong shouldn't act this way towards him.

Ryu glares at Kim Jeong before he leaves the other man behind. He has no intention of co-operating with a fool who doesn't fear death, it would only bring him down.

* * *

**Neji **can't help but feel torn as Akai is brought into a room where he can't enter. The warmth he felt when he had her in his arms fades slowly as he stands there looking at the doctor's retreating backs. He wants to stay by her side and make sure that she's okay but Neji knows that he has to leave and protect Grass.

"Hey!"

A very stressed nurse yells to obtain their attention. The woman is currently holding a small scalpel in her hand and her white outfit is drenched by Akai's blood. Neji doesn't like the depression on the woman's eyes and a gut feeling tells him that Akai's wound is more serious than what he first thought.

"Do you need help!?" Aoi asks quickly.

The older Isozaki seems to be just as stressed as the woman and offers his help without hesitation. Neji regrets that he wasn't that straightforward too.

"Yeah! Come here! You need to keep her still while we perform the surgery. "

A very cold emotion takes over Neji´s being as he hears this. The woman's tone clearly states that she's not certain about the outcome of the surgery and that it'll be very painful. But any treatment by a medic shouldn't be that painful, and the thought that strikes him makes him stop breathing.

"Isn't there any medic ninjas around?" Neji asks the woman.

"No, the only one capable of medical jutsus are her mother and a mother is not allowed to operate on her own child."

Neji´s white eyes widen a fraction. Akai´s injuries are way too severe to be treated with ordinary methods. The Hyuuga is quite sure that she won't survive without the right treatment and the fact makes his heart turn ice cold. The sudden chance that she died takes the always indifferent and stoic Neji to break down mentally. The thought of losing her, never seeing her again and never be able to relax in her presence makes him strangely dizzy. He has never been afraid of losing something before and the new emotions confuse him senselessly. Emotions from his childhood returns and he recalls the pain he felt when he lost his father. Neji frowns, he won't be able to stand losing Akai, he can't go through that intense pain of losing someone dear to him again.

_Someone dear to me?_ Neji doesn't know when his feelings towards Akai changed but it's now obvious to him that she's more than a friend to him. Akai is the one who offers him comfort wordlessly when he needs it and demands nothing in return, he can talk with her about anything and she'll somehow find a good answer to his questions and she has awaken a part of him that he thought died years ago.

"C´mon hurry." The woman's voice brings him back to reality.

"Yeah! Konoha ninja-san go, go and aid the others in the battle!" Aoi gives Neji orders in a superior sounding voice.

"…Hai." Neji forces himself to listen to the older man even though he wants to disobey him. The Hyuuga knows his place and obeys the Grass ninja, Akai´s older brother, out of practised respect. He bows before he turns around to leave.

Neji tries to close down his mind and senses as he slowly walks towards the exit. The sound of panic and metallic tools that falls to the ground out of stress is something he doesn't want to hear. His worry and feelings for Akai are already wavering and anymore knowledge of her current state would only keep him from doing his best in battle. He has to complete his task; he has to help Grass but the picture of Akai's face doesn't leave his mind. His heart aches like never before.

* * *

**A **loud whistle can be heard over the noises on the battlefield and Kanaye´s beloved horse runs to meet up with him. He gets up on Riku quickly and urges the animal to quicken its speed towards his team mate in need; Yoshi.

The genin is lying on the ground with his hands over hiss face as a last attempt to shield himself from a Sound ninja´s attack. His golden eyes are wide with fear of death and he closes then just before the hit. But nothing happens.

"Yoshi, you shouldn't act that carelessly." Kanaye lectures him.

The voice makes Yoshi open his eyes and he sees how the large, grey horse with Kanaye on its back stands tall in front of him while his attacker lies lifeless on the ground.

"I´ll never be as good as you, will I?" Yoshi murmurs, he's very disappointed over his failure to protect himself.

"Stop it." Kanaye tells him. "It's not the time to doubt your skills. We are skilled in different ways, you just have to find your way."

"Thanks…"

"Now, get up!"

Kanaye offers his hand that Yoshi accept and the chuunin helps the genin up on the horse's back. Yoshi tenses as he feels how Riku´s muscles start to move under him, the green-haired teen is not used to horseback riding at all.

"Woah!"

Yoshi grabs Kanaye´s shirt as the animal dashes forward in a zigzag pattern to avoid the fighting ninja. Kanaye grins at this and makes a noise with his lips so Riku quickens his speed even more but his expression changes when he witness a battle a little further up ahead. Two men, who he has never has seen before, fights against the Sound ninja with amazing skills and teamwork.

A man dressed in a tight green bodysuit fights like crazy with kicks and punches while the other, a man dressed in a shinobi uniform, uses a shadow technique to keep them still. Several Sound ninja steps back out of fear while the two of them keeps on punching their fellow shinobi unconscious.

"Who are you?" Yoshi demands when they seem somewhat done.

The man in the green suit looks up and Yoshi reels back when he sees the man's huge eyebrows. But the nice-guy smile keeps him from judging the strange looking man too quickly. The other gets up from a sitting pose and looks at Yoshi and Kanaye with a rather bothered expression.

"We are a part of the backup from Konoha, I'm Nara Shikamaru and this is Rock Lee." The shadow man tells them a little out of breath.

"Oh…" Yoshi sounds somewhat irritated.

But he hides his irritation as good as he can. He can't help but dislike Konoha since the village took so long to accept Grass's offer to restart the alliance but a relived feeling competes with his anger; they did show up. His golden eyes widen. _Akai-chan!_

"Do you know Akai?" Kanaye speaks the words Yoshi wanted to utter.

"Akai-san?" Lee utters her name in a tone that they can't read.

The way the two Konoha ninja look at each other bothers Kanaye and his gut feeling tells him that something is severely wrong. They've not heard from their team mate in ages and they were looking forward to a reunion but not in circumstances like these.

"What happened? Is she here?" Kanaye asks them but his voice is clear; he won't take silence as an answer.

"Calm down, I´ll explain." Shikamaru starts with a sigh but his expression hardens as he sees something behind Lee. "But this is not the place nor the time."

Shikamaru is quick to get down on his knees and activate his shadow to catch two men behind Lee´s back. Lee gasps out of surprise but is quick to calm down, he lowers his upper body to the ground, spins and kicks both of them in the chest area. Yoshi hurries to get down from Riku´s back to aid the two men while Kanaye stays back somewhat.

* * *

**The **Sound army doesn't seem to have an end. More and more shinobi appears and starts fighting while more and more Grass ninja keep on dying. Several buildings are on fire, children runs around crying and the wreck of the once peaceful city is the has joined Shikamaru, Lee, Kanaye and Yoshi and the five of them has fought very well but the intense situation forced the leader of Grass to show his face.

The five men are protecting the old man, who's a useless fighter, when he's trying to put an end to the battle. The man tries to communicate whit the sound ninja but he gets no kind of reply from them. Neji, who's not in his best shape, can't help but think about something else than the battle accidentally gets hurt when he shields the man. He curses mentally.

A change of atmosphere makes all of them look up and their eyes widen as they see;

"Orochimaru!" The leader shouts out the name

"Oh? Sssso you ssstill remember my face?" The snake man chuckles.

The eerie pale snake man stands on a fallen building with Kabuto, Kim Jeong and Ryu by his side. Everything seems to stop and the lower Sound ninja steps back and waits for orders from their supreme leader. The mans mere presence makes things change drastically and Grass's chances of victory gets even smaller.

"It's them!" Kanaye murmurs when he regards Kim Jeong and Ryu.

Everybody is really tired and most of them won't be able to continue fighting, Kanaye is aware of that, but he really wants to battle that red head again. He stares at the man. Grass is fighting a battle that they can't win and now when the leader of Sound has arrived… let's say it won't give them any advantages.

"Why are you here!?" The Grass leader asks. "Why are you attacking my village!?"

Yoshi and Kanaye look at their leader with surprised expression. The calm and gentle man they've always served seems to change personality before their eyes. Kanaye frowns. Sure they're in a very tight situation but something is wrong, really wrong.

"I'm sssure that you know why I'm here…Hand _it_ over."

The demand seems to make the leader of Grass nervous and Kanaye´s frown deepens. _What does Orochimaru want?_ Runs through his head.

"What is he talking about?" Lee asks without a clue.

"Looks like the Grass leader knows something." Neji tells them in a calculating voice.

Everyone turns deadly silent when a certain Uchiha appears out of nowhere. The surprise makes several men take a step back. The young man walks to stand by Orochimaru´s side and he glares at everything and everyone with his Sharingan eyes.

"Uchiha Sasuke! Then… what about Naruto and Kiba?" Lee asks in a worried voice.

"I hope that they're well…" Shikamaru murmurs. _I knew it was a bad idea to split up…This is like… the calm before the storm…

* * *

_**Naruto and Kiba **follows Sasuke´s trail through the bamboo forest. The two of them breathes quickly by exhaustion and their aching limbs slow them down somewhat but neither of them complains. Akamaru barks and change direction towards a hill. The three stops running when they reach the top and the scene before them makes their blood turn to ice.

The Grass village is falling, quickly.

"Hurry!! Damn!"

Kiba dashes down the hill with Naruto behind him.

* * *

**Aoi´s **forehead is wet by sweat. He's leaning over Akai, holding her down while regarding Akai's face that shows her intense pain as the woman cuts open her bleeding wound. She jolts by pain over and over again and Aoi fights to keep her body still on the operating table. His arms are aching from the effort.

"GAAAAAAH!!" Akai groans loudly.

It seems that the pain has awoken her from her unconscious state of mind. She starts to twist and turn more, and her reactions toward the pain gets worse by each passing second.

"Nurse, put something in her mouth." The head nurse demands. "She needs blood, hurry!"

The woman puts a piece of cloth in Akai's mouth so she won't be able to scream anymore. She breathes deeply through her nose to get oxygen and her pale skin turns pink slowly. Akai's inner bleedings are easy to see since she has no pigment in her skin and it makes her look really bad. Tears start to well up and the liquid is mixed together with her sweat as it rolls down her face.

One of the nurses pierces her skin with a needle and new blood starts to rush through her veins, but a lot of it will exit her body soon again; she's bleeding a lot. The leader nurse starts to repair injured organs with a needle and thread carefully while another one uses a tool to clean the wound over and over again.

"…This looks really bad…." She murmurs under her breath.

"Her pulse! It's dangerously low, and is still getting worse!" One woman exclaims.

Aoi´s eyes get wide and he turns to look at the machine next to the bed. The constant beeping turns faint until the line is totally straight…The beeping sound echoes in his head loudly and the noise gets higher.

"AKAI!!"

* * *

**AN; Akai is in for some pain... poor girl. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please R&R It´ll help me update faster. Have a nice day!**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN; Hello! Sorry for the long wait but I blame school, sickness and my summerjobb for the delay! Thank you for the reviews and support, I really love to get your messages and thoughts... I hope you´ll enjoy this chapter too.

* * *

****The **old man, who's the leader of the Grass village that's being attacked, looks at the main threat with narrow eyes. His grey, long hair is floating in the wind and the eerie silence and calmness around the battlefield makes the scene even more frightening.

The great Sound army stands in front with expressions controlled by respect to their leader, Orochimaru, or are they controlled by pure fear? The mere presence of the snake and his right men; Kabuto, Sasuke, Kim Jeong and Ryu makes the much smaller army behind him shiver with panic and uncontrolled fear. The Grass leader's shinobi can't compete with the skills of the Sound and everyone is well aware of their major disadvantage.

This is a battle that they'll lose.

"Hand _it_ over." Orochimaru repeats with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yamamoto-sama, what is he talking about?" One of the remaining shinobi asks the leader, addressing him in a less formal way.

The leader, or Yamamoto, glances at his trusted friend before he frowns deeply. He never thought that _it _would be the reason behind the attack. The thing they want is a piece of Grass´ history, something the whole village remembers even though the subject is always talked about in darkness. What Orochimaru wants is the scroll with facts of one of the cruel occasions that occurred in Grass several years ago, along with data on one certain person.

"What if we don't?" Some moron asks even though the answer is obvious.

"You know that we will kill to get it, do you?" Kabuto comments while rearranging the position of his glasses on his nose.

Yamamoto can't help but feel bad about the subject and he doesn't want the younger generations to know about the cruelty of the old council and himself, especially not like this. He doesn't want the past to haunt the village again.

The story of a boy with a split personality can still be heard from time to time. A boy, who everybody in the village hated, teased and made fun of only because of that he was different from what they saw as _normal. _The cruel way everyone treated him made this young boy suffer during his childhood and the constant pressure and lack of help made his situation worse.

The split personality, which first was his imaginary friend, urged him to complete his ninja training and turn into a first class warrior. His coldness born out of solitude and his strength scared the village and it didn't take long before superior ninjas decided to keep an eye on him. The lack of trust made the young man even more distant towards his fellow citizens.

The lack of trust turned him into a monster, a human eating plant who in the end decided to abandon Grass. Or can you really say abandon when he never really felt like home in the village where he was born?

That's why Yamamoto decided believes in the young Isozaki so much, he doesn't want to repeat the mistake he did years ago. He needed to try trusting a ninja who is different to make sure that no hard feelings would be born. He's responsible for what happened with that boy, with Zetsu and he'll do anything to protect the small part of him that's left in the village; his history.

"This is a dead end if you're looking for facts about Zetsu." Yamamoto tells them at last. "I´ll protect what's left of him."

"Protect you say? Is it for his or your sake you're doing this?" Kabuto comments wisely.

Yamamoto stares at the men without saying a word. The leader of Grass stands tall even though shame and guilt are resting on his shoulders and he wishes that he could force away the threat with his stare only.

"You're foolish Yamamoto-san. And your foolishness will ssssurely kill you." Orochimaru tells him. "Everybody, retreat!"

The tense atmosphere disappears immediately after than the army turns their back to them but the panic and fear changes into confusion. Why would Orochimaru retreat when he has the advantage in battle? It doesn't make sense at all.

"What?" Some Grass ninja gasps at the sudden turn.

"They just gave up like that?" Another one questions with the hint of relief in his voice.

"No…they'll surely come again." Yamamoto mutters under his breath before he turns around and heads towards his office.

* * *

**Calmness** starts to spread among the villagers and a new hope starts to grow stronger. Maybe there'll be no more battles, no more sorrow and they'll be safe at last? Kiba and Naruto, who arrived just when Orochimaru left, can't believe that it was the end and both of them are very wary.

But the peace is soon broken and the hurried steps of a shinobi tell everyone about it. The woman runs up to her leader with a terrified expression on her face. The leader is currently talking with the back up team from Konoha but he quickly stops when he sees his friend's face.

"Yamamoto-sama! We're surrounded by the Sound troops, they're blocking every entrance…they're besieging the village…!"

"So that's his plan, huh?" Yamamoto answers calmly, almost as if he saw this coming.

Shikamaru, Lee, Neji, Kiba and Naruto frowns deeply at the news.

"This is bad." Shikamaru murmurs. "A very troublesome situation for us. We wont be able to leave the village…they're probably trying to starve or make us so tired so the only choice is to give them what they want…"

"..yeah" The woman agrees. "Two men were killed when they tried to reach the bridge… and others are forced to stay on this side of the boarder…" She adds with a bitterness in her voice.

"Dirty tricks…" Kiba curses. "How long will the village be able to last? How much food is there? Water?"

"We need to start moving if we want to survive long enough to fight back. Yamamoto-sama what do you want to do?" Shikamaru asks the leader, Shikamaru is already planing.

"…"The woman hesitates. "How can you act this calm? You know this is partly your fault!"

"What do you mean?" Lee asks her.

"We asked for Konoha´s help but no, you just had to wait until the last second to sign the alliance contract and see what happened!" She accuses them.

"Hiwatari-san!" Yamamoto snarls at her.

The woman flinches by the anger and closes her mouth. She bites her lip out of embarrassment and anger. Naruto looks away since he feels bad about how slow Konoha reacted when they heard about the attack.

"Yamamoto-sama?" Shikamaru decides to ignore the woman's outburst and is quick to return to the subject.

"Gather everyone and tell them to save all water and food, we need to make sure that we won't lose due to starvation. Nara-san, I want you to meet the council of this country and discuss the situation and hopefully figure out a way to fight back. I, myself, will join you when things get calmer." He answers flatly.

"Roger."

Yamamoto walks away in the direction of the hospital and leaves the Konoha ninjas behind him. The woman, called Hiwatari, is quick to leave too but is sure to send them a glare before she does. The five friends stands there in silence for a while, each of them thinking about different things until Naruto breaks the silence.

"Akai? Did she make it?" Naruto utters the words Kiba wanted to say.

The two of them changed the subject since they haven't got the chance to ask about the situation at all due to the panic around them. Kiba is really pissed about that they missed everything that happened, well Orochimaru came and went, and he swears that he'll kick their asses when they decide to show up again.

"No one knows yet, but we managed to get her to the hospital." Shikamaru answers. "I've to go, you, make sure to inform the citizens about the besiege and what needs to be done."

"Hai!"

* * *

**The **capital of the Grass country is now getting their chance to fight back but the pressure and threat from the outside might hinder them. Lee, Neji Kiba and Naruto do everything in their might to help the villagers to save up food, water and taking the injured to the hospital while Shikamaru is with the Grass´ high rank strategists planning their next move. No one knows if they should repair the damages because the Sound army will surely return and demolish it again.

They're both facing happy smiles and hateful glares as they offers their help and it doesn't take long before they understand that Grass is far away from happy with them. Some citizens are literally blaming them for the state their village is in. Kiba is quick to get irritated by this and the pressure around him makes turns him into a walking bomb. Akamaru whines at his side.

"Shouldn't they be grateful that we _did_ show up?" he complains out loud.

"Calm down…" Lee smiles weakly. Even the always positive, beautiful green beast is mentally tired at the moment.

Neji glances at his two team mates out of the corner of his eye as he is helping an injured man towards the long queue outside the hospital's entrance. His white eyes linger at the hospital for a while before he turns around to accompany Kiba, Lee and Naruto with their tasks.

"They say that their source of water is a river close to the bridge…." Naruto informs them" That location is heavily guarded so we can only use the water that's already in the village."

"How much is that?" Kiba aks him.

"Not much… we won't last a week."

"Shit." Kiba curses.

"Something I know is that you can't fight on an empty stomach…" Naruto murmurs. "Orochimaru can starve us to death if he wants to."

"Don't give up now!" Lee chants. "We'll be able to fight back in no time! I mean there are still a lot of uninjured Grass ninjas left, like those two."

"Who?" Kiba is always interested in strong ninjas.

"I think their names were Uesugi Yoshi and Makiguchi Kanaye; Akai-san´s former team mates."

Kiba nods deep in thought at this, he would love to meet some strong opponents but this isn't the time. They've a major threat from Uchiha Sasuke and Orochimaru so how can he relax and investigate about the Grass ninjas? He sighs deeply.

"Why don't we do something? I mean, gah I'm so restless…!" Kiba complains.

Neji´s eyes get less distant as he hears of Akai´s team mates and he finds himself pondering over what kind of life she has here. A frown graces his features as he regards his surroundings; this is her home. Destroyed buildings, shattered dreams and death is everywhere. _Akai…_Tapping sounds interrupts Neji´s thoughts and the Hyuuga looks up to see how Shikamaru is running towards them.

"Send a bird to Konoha, we need to inform Hokage-sama about the situation." Shikamaru orders them and hands them a letter before he runs back into the building without any unnecessary chit-chatting.

Another man hands Neji a small white bird before he also runs back into the large building behind them. Neji holds the small white dove in his hands when Lee attaches the letter Shikamaru gave them to its leg carefully. They're all working in silence. The small animal trembles in his hold slightly but it calms down when Neji starts to caress is slowly. Even though the Hyuuga is there is his mind and thoughts elsewhere and he can't focus on what's going on. His eyes follow the bird when he lets it go and he finds himself captivated by the beauty of it. White Byakugan eyes narrow a fraction the moment before a sharp arrow pierces the dove, as it was about to fly over the fence.

"The dove…it was shot down!" Naruto exclaims loudly while pointing at it.

"So we won't be able to ask for back up either…" Lee states in a sad voice. "They even kill birds crossing the boarder…"

Lee kneels down besides the still struggling animal and kills it with a simple move of his hand. The taijutsu artist can't stand seeing animals suffer like that. Neji frowns deeply as he regards the white dove, a symbol of peace, lying dead on the ground with an arrow through its heart. His pale skin matches the colour of the bird, just as the colour of his eyes, and it makes him wonder if he'll be able to stay like this forever. The sight makes him recall how fragile and weak Akai is at the moment and a new bolt of pain invades his chest area.

"Neji are you alright?" Lee turns away from the dove and asks his team mate. "You look like you're in pain."

"A lot have happened…" Is Neji´s only answer. "I've a lot on my mind at the moment…I´ll be fine."

"I guess all of us needs some rest…" Lee suggests in a friendly tone but the truth is that he wants to go out there and kick some ass.

"Hn…" Neji sighs.

* * *

**The hospital **is very busy at the moment. There are way too many injured compared to doctors and nurses so patients are waiting in a long queue outside for help. Men and women dressed in white runs down the corridors, everyone is in a hurry to do what they can in this hopeless situation.

Panicis the only word that can describe what Aoi is feeling when the heart of his beloved little sister finally gives in. A terrible cold sensation takes over his whole being as the sound of the machine starts to echo between the four hospital walls. Akai has no pulse.

"I'm starting CPR, continue to tend to her wounds…stop the bleeding for God's sake!" A nurse yells out orders.

Aoi´s eyes widen as he's pushed aside by the woman and the man can't turn his eyes away from Akai when they start to massage her heart and breathe for her. Her white skin has turned into a red and purple colour due to inner bleedings and the lack of pigment doesn't hide the fact one bit.

Akai is dying, and Aoi can't do anything to stop it. Or can he? The only person who could save her is his mother, Akane, and Aoi will find make her tend to her daughter even if it's prohibited. His worried expression turns into a confident one when he quickly turns around and exits the room to find the woman.

It doesn´t take long to find Akane since it seems that she somehow felt what's going on and was heading towards the hospital. Her worried expression grows into a terrified grimace as she meets her eldest son's eyes.

"I heard that a back up team from Konoha arrived so… where's Akai?" She asks even though she can guess the answer.

"She's badly injured and she'll die if you don't save her, Okaa-san. Your medic skills are needed so hurry!" He tells her the truth.

Aoi doesn't wait, he grabs her and transports the two of them using some of his ninja arts. The nurses flinch as they appear out of a cloud of grass strands. The main nurse looks up and meets Akane´s determinated stare.

"Akane-senpai, you can't…!" She starts to complain.

"Who do you think I am?! I'm a pro at this hospital and won't let my emotions change that…now give me some space."

The nurse looks confused as Akane pushes her aside and the work to save Akai stops for a moment as everyone watches her mother.

"Is there a pulse?" Akane breaks the spell.

"A weak one…" The same nurse she pushed away answers.

Aoi sighs in relief they were able to resurrect her after all. He wipes away the sweat on his forehead before he exits the room and leaves the rest to his mother. The woman doesn't hesitate, she puts her two hands over the wound and a weak green light starts to glow at her fingertips. The weak chakra starts to heal the wound slowly, gluing back skin, muscles and veins very carefully.

"Give her more blood." Akane tells the nurses through gritted teeth.

"Hai!"

"Inoue, Sato you have to go. A lot of patients are in need of help. Hurry."

"Roger!"

When Inoue and Sato leave the two remaining women continues to work to stabilise Akai condition. Akane uses her quite weak skills as a medic to heal her wound while the nurse keeps an eye on Akai´s breathing and pulse.

"She's stabilising."

"We can't do anything more now." Akane states the fact. "Just wait for her to recover and wake up. You're dismissed."

"Don't…stay here too long senpai." She tells her before leaving the woman alone with her child.

Akane´s professional and controlled facade slips as she's alone and her eyes begin to overflow with tears. She sits down on a chair next to the bed without looking away from Akai once. Swollen skin meets flawless skin when Akane holds Akai's hand in hers, she squeezes it softly. The only thing that calms the woman down is the steady beeping from the machine that reads Akai´s pulse and blood pressure.

"Stupid…"She murmurs through her pain. "…W-why did you end up like this? This is all my fault, I should never had let you go on that mission…I shouldn't have let your father train you into becoming a ninja… I'm so stupid…"

The clock on the wall emits sounds in the same rhythm as the machine and Akane ends up staying by her daughter's side for a long time. Her peace is soon interrupted though since a lot of other patients need aid. She leaves Akai´s side hesitantly to do what she was born to do; cure others.

* * *

**A **loud neigh can be heard from the stable and the call makes Kanaye glance to his right. The Makiguchi horses have been nervous and wary since the battle and Kanaye is sure that they're predicting the worst outcome of this quarrel. Horses can feel what humans can't and he checks up on them from time to time in his own way of keeping an eye on the situation.

"They're acting strange…" Yoshi comments.

"Everyone's worried about what's going to happen next."

"We can't sit here and do nothing!" Yoshi exclaims. "Let's go and help the foreigners out."

"You mean the Konoha team?"

"There are no other foreigners around, is there?" Yoshi snorts. "I want to visit Akai too, I'm worried about her."

"Don't worry, she'll live through this. Akai is strong so don't lose your faith in her."

"I know! But sometimes I wonder if she's pushing herself too hard, I mean…What if she…?"

"Let's go." Kanaye interrupts Yoshi.

The two men looks at each other for a moment before Yoshi nods and they're on their way towards the centre of the capital of the Grass country. Both of them have a lot on their minds but Kanaye is the one who worried about the upcoming battle. Ryu and that Kim Jeong were strong and he's not sure if the village can face one more battle against the Sound army.

"That Zetsu Yamamoto-sama mentioned, I can barely remember him…Why is his history so important to protect?"

"It's not like that. The scroll is very important since there are notes about several secret jutsus that originally were created in Grass, by him. We can't let them get it, right?"

Yoshi nods after a while. He never thought that a small country like Grass would have something that important, not so other would start a war to get it.

"…Where is that Zetsu now?"

"He's a spy for the Akatsuki." Kanaye mutters. "Who knows where they are."

As the two of them reaches the village's centre they are quick to meet the _foreigners_ as Yoshi calls them and the depressed atmosphere gets even heavier. Or at least two of the team and Kanaye recognises one of them as the leader.

"Where did the others go?" Yoshi and Kanaye overhear their conversation from a distance.

"I went to the hospital and they were gone when I returned." A tall man with long dark brown hair and white eyes answers.

"Is there a problem?" Kanaye interrupts them.

The two Konoha ninja turns around to face them after a shared glance.

"Nah probably not, three of our team mates went missing but I'm sure they're around here somewhere…" Shikamaru answers. _Please don't do anything stupid now…

* * *

_**Akai** is sitting there in her white hospital bed. White sheets cover her bruised and torn skin but the girl doesn't even try to hide her swollen face from the person in her room. The small amount of sunlight that caresses her features makes her blue eyes turn slightly pink.

"Are you alright?" Someone asks her.

"…" Akai stares into the distance with her misty eyes.

She can't understand anything even though her brain is working to figure everything out harder than it has before. Akai woke up from nightmare but the pain she felt while dreaming doesn't fade when she faces the reality. Her long white eyelashes flutter as she blinks. She's sitting in a white bed, in a white room, dressed in a white thin dress that's not her own garment. The foreign smell tells her that she's not in Konoha any longer, but the scent isn't as foreign as she first thought…

"What…What happened? Why did I end up here…" Akai asks as she realises that she is in her home village.

Her blue eyes widen slowly as her memory returns to her. The argument with Neji and the parting without a _sorry_, the news of her village being under attack, her meeting and fighting Uchiha Sasuke for the second time…cold metal through her stomach…_I was going to protect the village but…I…lost? I…fainted? _A bolt of emotional pain invades her already damaged senses. _I __**blacked**__ out? _

"Isozaki-san?" The person tries to get her attention.

A headache grows stronger and the pain makes her ignore the person once again. _Why was I beaten? _Her blue eyes get even narrower. _But I… my skills…but I thought that I would be able to…_She shakes her head slowly and it makes her remember the reason why she was in a hurry to come home again.

"The village!"

* * *

**AN; the end of chapter 18 but don´t worry I´m already writing on the next chapter. (yay for summer vacation!) A lot of drama will start soon and it´s going to be fun to write it. I hope you´ll keep on reading this story, please read and review! R&R (reviews WILL make me write faster ya know?)**

**Have a nice summer!**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN; Thank you for reading this far, and special thanks to you who reviewed the last chapter! Thanks to Kmz and Helen cutie who reviewed! **

**I want to make sure that everyone understands why Yamamoto treats Akai well, and that's because he doesn't want Zetsu´s tragedy to repeat itself. He doesn't want Akai to start hating Grass and become a threat to the village like Zetsu did. Zetsu and Akai are not related in anyway, they haven't even met. **

**I hope you'll enjoy chapter 19.

* * *

****Small **bamboo trees crack as they run through the forest in a quick speed. The traces of rain touch their skin and the exotic wetness makes it easy to slip when running.

"I think this is a bad idea…" Lee murmurs.

"It's better than doing nothing." Kiba explains. "And the village _do_ really need that source of water… we have to take back the bridge."

"Naruto?" Kiba calls for his friend's attention when he notices that he's spacing out.

"I need to find Sasuke." Naruto informs them in a very choked voice. "I don't understand why he's doing this…But I can't give up on him yet."

Kiba glances at his friend but keeps his insults to himself when he sees how troubled Naruto looks. He knows that Sasuke is important to him but Kiba can't understand how Naruto can keep going after each time Sasuke rejects him. Sasuke might have killed Akai, Sasuke abandoned Konoha, _Sasuke_…Kiba dislikes the dude.

"We should have asked Shikamaru about this first…" Lee starts to get second thoughts. "I mean…what if something happens?"

"Don't be such a coward fuzzy brows." Naruto tells him with a smile growing. "I´ll just say that it was my idea and that the should blame me."

Lee looks up a little surprised and he meets Kiba´s eyes for a moment. Both of them is aware of what's bothering their friend and none wants to bring up the subject once again. It was actually Naruto who dragged them from their task of helping the villagers and told them about his plan. The planning went too slow and he wanted to make sure that the village will get the water it needs but his hidden wish was to meet Sasuke.

"The bridge is supposed to be close by…" Naruto murmurs.

Blue eyes narrow as he senses how strong chakras are gathered in front of him; it must be true that the place is heavy guarded. Bringing himself into a halt Naruto stops the others with a simple movement of his arm and Kiba and Lee land close to Naruto´s side.

"We'll be outnumbered if we attack and Sasuke isn't here, we should return." Lee suggests, he can already imagine how pissed Shikamaru and Neji will be if this goes badly.

"C´mon Akamaru and I will take them out easily!" Kiba tells them in a confident voice.

"Even if we beat them and get the bridge back that doesn't mean they'll come with back up and take it back! We don't have any back up!" Lee exclaims.

"Yeah this might be too much for only three ninja…"Naruto ponders.

Kiba is about to complain when an arrow passes him by. Dark eyes narrow as a cut grows bigger on his cheek and red liquid starts to colour his skin red. Lee and Naruto get up on their feet quickly and Akamaru gets into a fighting position in front of his master who is temporarily in chock.

"They've noticed us!" Lee shouts as he prepares himself for battle. _Neji is so going to scold me later…_

Kiba´s eyes return to their normal size quickly and his surprised expression turns into an amused one. His lips turn up into a smirk and this little sign makes Akamaru bark. The Konoha ninja dressed in dark leather is thrilled and he can't help but smile as the guards of the bridge approaches them.

"I seriously need to release some energy now!" He growls.

Naruto nods as he performs the kage bunshin and a dozen look a likes appears around them; they're suddenly not outnumbered anymore. His blue eyes gets darker as he dashes forward to punch them before they punch him. Maybe if he causes a commotion, the key word is maybe, Sasuke will notice him. _What do I've to do to make him realise that the path he's walking is wrong?_ The bamboo forest turns misty as the enemy destroys several of his copies. _How can I convince him to return?_

Lee frowns as he delivers kick after kick while spinning like a tornado. His taijutsu moves has improved a lot these passed weeks but he can still feel the soreness of his old leg injury. Bushy eyebrows flinch as a punch nearly strikes him but Lee´s quick and flexible body helps him evade the strike and he delivers one of his own punches. The ninja flies through the air until he lands ungracefully in the water. The man curses loudly before he stares back at Lee.

"You're not Grass ninjas why are you protecting them!?" He spits out some water. "Why do Konoha always pretend to be so mighty?"

"Because we care?" Kiba answers with sarcasm in his voice.

"You should pack your bags and return home if you care. I mean there'll only be more fights and victims if you stay. Grass is a weak country so we would be able to conquer it easily, well if you didn't show up and ruin everything." Another one accuses them.

"There wouldn't be any victims at all if you never attacked them in the first place!" Kiba roars.

"Oh shit." Lee murmurs.

"What?" Kiba snarls.

"The back up I mentioned?" Lee sweat drops anime style.

The five guards they first fought have turned into a small army of twelve Sound ninjas and the Konoha team is once again facing a disadvantage. Kiba reels back at the sight.

"What should we do?" Lee asks them.

"I got you guys into this situation so I´ll figure something out." Naruto tells them.

He once again performs the kage bunshin technique and dashes forward without thinking. The army of Narutos runs into the army of Sound in a loud collision. The bamboo forest turns misty once again and Kiba decides to use his and Akamaru´s noses to track down their enemy. He can't really leave all the fun to Naruto, can he? Akamaru is quick to find one and the two of them charges with their trademark attack;

"Gatsuuga!!!"

The human and dog whirl of pure power hits their target bulls eye and a loud scream echoes between the trees around them. Kiba smirks in victory but his eyes narrow as an intense pain suddenly hits him from nowhere. He turns around to find a man just behind him, he was stabbed.

"Leaf hurricane!"

Kiba flinches as the man is kicked away from him by Lee´s powerful attack. The wind from the blow makes his short brown hair float around his face in the same way as Lee´s does.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, he didn't hit a vital spot…"

Kiba touches the wound on his arm with a grimace on his face. Akamaru whimpers as he sees his master's pain.

"We nee to retreat, Sasuke-kun isn't here…Naruto!" Lee tries to gain the ninja´s attention.

Naruto looks up and his eyes are full of sadness and regret, but he nods and turns around to flee. He´s smart though and throws a smoke bomb after him so their escape will be easier. Kiba is quick to follow and his loyal dog does the same. Lee takes a final look at their enemies before he quickens his speed to catch up with his two team mates. The men coughs as the smoke invades their lungs and they´re surrounded by darkness for some a moment.

"Should we follow them?" A man asks his superior.

"No we have strict orders not to attack them without Orochimaru-sama´s direct orders."

"They were so asking for it…"

* * *

"**We´re** sorry…"

Kiba, Naruto and Lee stand in front of Neji and Lee with bowed heads. Their clothes are torn and covered in dust, their hair is in a mess and several scratches can be seen.

"Gomen nasai demo…I just needed to do something about the situation! It was bugging everyone so I…" Kiba starts to explain.

Shikamaru looks up at the tree in a lazy way but and is about to say something but his eyes snap open when Neji suddenly punches Kiba with no warning. Kiba is thrown out of balance and takes several steps backwards before he looks up to meet Neji´s white eyes.

"You're really an idiot, aren't you?" He snaps in a very could and irritated voice. "Did it once occur to you that you put the whole village at stake when you went on that _adventure_ of yours? What if they attacked?"

Shikamaru´s once lazy expression is gone and he regards Neji with alert eyes. Something about the situation must have made him snap because he has never seen the Hyuuga act this way before.

"Hey don't blame Kiba, I suggested it!" Naruto moves to stand in front of Kiba.

"I'm blaming all of you!" Neji snarls with narrowed eyes.

Naruto and Kiba swallow their saliva when they notice how Neji is close to activating his Byakugan. They sure don't want to meet Neji´s fury today, not after the battle at the bridge!

"Heh, it's like I thought." Yoshi smirks as he interrupts the quarrel between the Konoha team. "Konoha ninja sure are full of themselves when they go on such suicide missions."

"…Yoshi!" Kanaye utters his name like a warning.

"Naruto, Kiba, Lee…go to the hospital and get cleaned up." Shikamaru orders them with a sigh. " Join me and Neji here as soon as possible. And just so you know, Yamamoto-sama is very angry with you so prepare yourself for a punishment."

The tree ninja walks away with defeated expressions and Shikamaru sighs deeply once again. _Troublesome…_He runs his fingers through his ponytail. He turns serious once again when he regards the Hyuuga at his side. The one-year-older Konoha shinobi is very tense and seems to be fighting back his need to release his stress. One more comment that Neji doesn't like and the stoic Byakugan user would explode again in a very way he never would do otherwise.

"Neji…?" Shikamaru calls the Hyuuga´s name carefully.

"…Too much tension…" Neji murmurs as an answer while he massages his temples. "I need some fresh air."

"Take your time."

Neji glances at Shikamaru with a weak hint of a smile before he turns around and walks away. Shikamaru can´t help but sigh for the third time.

"Ahhh…!" He turns around. "I wonder how this mission will turn out."

* * *

**White **sheets fall to the ground as the injured Grass ninja dashes out of the hospital bed. Her bare feet touch the cold floor swiftly as she tries to run towards the floor in front of her. An arm grabs her suddenly and a feminine body gets in Akai´s way. Her still swollen face gets buried between a pair of breast as the woman restricts her and Akai finds it difficult to breathe.

"Isozaki-san you can't leave the bed yet!!" The woman tells her in a stern voice.

"The village! What happened to the village!?" Akai shouts in panic and fear.

Her whole body is cold as a corps as she thinks of the possible conditions her village might be in. Her blue distant eyes are large as she tries to push away the woman and confusion enters her being as she finds herself unable to. Her body is so weak all of a sudden and a strange dizziness almost makes her fall over. Just as sudden as the dizziness is, a new sudden pain hits her like knifes. She bends over with her arms around her stomach in an attempt to ease the sensation but the pain leaves her breathless.

"Itai….ita ita itaiiii!" Akai whimpers.

The woman takes a new hold of Akai and she keeps the younger girl close to her almost like an embrace. Akai feels embarrassed by her weakened state and wants to push her away but she admits that she would embarrass herself further if she did so. _I think I'm going to puke…_Akai frowns as she tries to swallow her pain so she won't throw up at the woman.

"Calm down…I´ll help you to the window and you can see for yourself."

_See for myself she says?_ Akai curses mentally with an irritated expression. _It would be wonderful if I could see, it would be like a miracle! _Akai hates the way the nurse caresses her back, it's almost as if she's pitying her. Maybe throwing up at her wouldn't be such a bad idea?

Akai leans against the wall as they reach the window and the wind makes her torn skin feel a little better. Blue eyes stare at the blurry picture and she finds herself unable to grasp what happened out there. She exhales deeply and strange scents are registered in her brain as she inhales fresh air.

Or what she thought would be fresh air. A strong smell of blood lingers around her and the iron taste on her tongue disgust her. _So many deaths…_Her senses works to get a picture of the situation and her expression turns depressed. The high amount of sand in the air tells her about broken buildings and broken landscapes, the distant whispers of the townspeople tells her about their despair and Akai realises that her home is as good as demolished.

"I wasn't able to protect it…" Akai murmurs to herself.

A deep sense of guilt makes her hurt more than what her wound makes her. Her dream and goal was to become a ninja worthy of her village and to gain the trust of Grass. _I failed. _Akai closes her eyes in defeat. _I let them down when they needed me the most, I'm such a failure._ Akai bites her lip and the already swollen body part turns a little bit purple. _Maybe it was stupid of me to try to achieve something like the skills of a ninja!_

"Did you say something dear?"

"Nothing…" Akai sighs deeply, she tries to hide her sadness. "Is the other Isozaki members alright?"

Akai is afraid to hear the answer but she has to ask. What will she do if her family was killed in the battle? Would she be able to forgive herself?

"Akane-senpai is already working here, she sat near your bed some minutes ago. I heard that she left her youngest at the academy and her oldest is out there protecting the boarders."

"Who brought me here?"

"You're sure asking a lot!" She tries to joke. "The Konoha squad did."

"The Konoha….squad?" Surprise is clear in her voice.

"Yes, a back up team from Konoha arrived just in time and they're currently helping out to restore the damage and saving food and water." The nurse smiles softly. "There might be some hope left for a little country like Grass after all."

"…" Akai stays silent.

They ran after me? Akai doesn't know if she should laugh or cry at the fact that she was saved by Konoha ninja. She betrayed them by returning to Grass while their Hokage told her not to, she was disrespectful and naive when she decided to break the rules and she's now paying the price. I must have been a burden to them. I deserve this pain…oh fuck! Akai forces back her tears; she can't embarrass herself further by crying in front of the nurse.

"Now, let's return to bed shall we?" She demands sweetly. "I don't want you to re-open your wound."

Akai walks towards the bed with heavy steps. Each step feels so wasted and she wonders if all her struggle is worth it. The nurse helps her into the warmth of the bed and she gives Akai some painkillers together with a glass of water. She swallows them without really understanding what she's doing. Akai has entered the world of her thoughts.

"Can you leave me alone, please?" She asks the nurse in a voice near its breaking point.

* * *

"**Saaaasuke-kun!"** Kim Jeong smirks as he chants the Uchiha´s name. "I heard your old buddies attacked the bridge a while ago."

Sasuke doesn't bother answering the Korean since he didn't really give him a question. The Sharingan master sits down on a rock and runs his hand through his hair like nothing happened. This makes Kim Jeong frustrated and he frowns as he turns away. He can't stand the Uchiha that's for sure!

"That Uzumaki Naruto do always appear when we least want it." Kabuto states the fact. "Wouldn't it be better to take care of him before it becomes a problem?"

Kabuto glares at Sasuke from the corner of his eye. He's silently accusing Sasuke for being unable to kill his former team mate and the genius is well aware of that it's a subject Sasuke dislikes. Something about Sasuke bothers Kabuto and the grey haired spy doesn't really understand the other's intentions.

"Hn." Sasuke snorts. "Easier said than done."

"Ryu-kun, go and make sure that the warriors are doing their tasks."

"Roger."

"Kim Jeong, I need you to keep an eye on the Grass shinobi. We´ll attack when they're exhausted." Kabuto orders the Korean.

Kim Jeong snorts as he turns away.

"Sorry but I only obey Orochimaru-sama´s orders."

Kabuto reels back at this but hides his anger as he pushes up his glasses to their correct position at his nose. The spy has always known that Kim Jeong dislikes almost all of Orochimaru´s servants, ninja or staff but he can't help but start hating the foreigner. Jeong doesn't respect Kabuto at all even though he's in a higher rank that him and that angers Kabuto more than his comments.

"Where are you going?" Kabuto demands to know in an irritated voice.

"Not your business at all, four eyes." He chuckles to himself but makes sure that Kabuto is able to hear him. Kim Jeong walks away with his head held high.

"Hn." Sasuke can't help but smirk at the scene.

Kabuto can't help but glare at the man with several curses on his tongue, his control doesn't slip though and they stay inside his mouth. The Uchiha´s smirk doesn't make the situation better at all and the older man sighs deeply to calm himself down.

"Then _four eyes, _I'm going to keep an eye on them." Sasuke secretly likes the new nickname for Orochimaru´s dog.

"Do as you like." Another sigh.

* * *

**Neji **is sitting alone under a tree near the boarder of the village hidden in Grass. The stoic ninja tries to relax by leaning back against the tree and breathe in and out slowly but he can't find his inner peace. You can see how his eye moves even though he has them closed. He tries to meditate for a while but thinking about it makes it even harder; he needs peace and therefore no more thinking.

Lee, Kiba and Naruto´s stunt before was just enough to make him explode and Neji now regrets the way he acted. He should have kept his emotion in check even though he's feeling like shit.

He sighs as he opens his eyes and look up into the blue sky. Sitting there reminds him of the times he and Akai met under the sakura tree near the Hyuuga estate. He remembers how she one day offered him her lap as a pillow so he could sleep and how he accepted the offer. Neji wishes that they were together under that cherry blossom tree now instead of sitting here alone while not knowing if the other is still alive or not.

Neji turns his gaze towards the hospital and he can see the tall white building over the others even though he's sitting pretty far away from it. His Byakugan can easily tell him the answer on the question but he hesitates to activate his bloodline limit. What if she didn't make it? An ice-cold sensation runs through his body and that familiar pain in his chest returns. Neji doesn't want to admit it but he's too scared to find out and it's probably that fear that has bothered him all day. He's not used to handle fear and certainly not his own.

Neji frowns as he gets up on his feet. _The only way to take away this feeling is to find out…_His long dark brown hair frames his face as he starts to walk towards the crowded hospital. Neji can't stop his heart from beating faster in his chest as he slowly approaches the building.

What will he see when he meets her again? The pale and always understanding girl he knows or…a corpse?

The distasteful scent of medicine and those white walls surrounds him as she finally enters the building. The peaceful atmosphere has returned somewhat but there are way too many patients in a very small hospital so Neji can sense the stress underneath the calm. The Hyuuga walks through the corridor and tries to find someone who can tell him about Akai but all the nurses seems to be occupied with something important.

"Can I help you?" A young nurse finally asks him.

The girl looks up at him with a smile but something deeper is in her eyes, she finds the white eyes man very handsome. Neji raises his right eyebrow at this and ignores her motives as he accepts her help.

"I'm searching for Isozaki Akai."

"Oh…"

The nurse's lack of response makes Neji narrow his eyes. He stares at her for any sign that would tell him that Akai is dead or still in a bad condition and his chest grows colder with each passing second. The nurse looks away when his stare becomes too intense and she tries to shrug away the uncomfortable feeling around the Konoha ninja. Maybe he wasn't as good as she first thought? He's handsome but too scary for her taste.

"Then I´ll show you to her room."

A heavy burden fades from his shoulders and Neji sighs in a very relieved manner. The constant aching in his chest disappears slowly and he feels like he finally is cured of whatever made him feel that awful.

"How is she?"

"She was badly injured when she first got here and I thought that she wouldn't make it. Her mother stepped in though and was able to resurrect her. She's taking heavy medicine for her pain at the moment but what's left of her injuries are bruises. Don't worry though, her injuries looks much more severe than they are since she's an albino."

"Hn…"

"Here we are." She points at the room. "She has an appointment in one hour so be sure to leave before that time."

"I understand."

Neji waits until the nurse leaves his field of vision before he puts his hand on the door and opens it. He stops breathing unconsciously as he enters the room. His eyes moves to the girl in the bed immediately and he flinches mentally by the sight even though the nurse warned him. Her usually pale skin is no longer white, her lack of pigment makes the bruises look twice as bad and she looks more red, pink and purple colour. Akai has several plastics in her face and Neji can see how her stomach and chest are wrapped up in bandages through her see-through shirt. He also takes a note of that she looks a lot skinnier than before.

"Akai?" Neji calls her name when she doesn't turn around to greet him in anyway.

Neji doesn't move from the spot near the door as he waits for her to make a sign that she heard him. But she doesn't move. She's sitting there in silence, looking at something in the distance while her white hair hiding her face from him.

"You know…during these days at the hospital I've thought a lot." She starts to talk in a very low voice. "And I wonder if it would had been better if I didn't wake up at all."

* * *

**AN; that´s it! I hope you enjoyed chapter 19 of this story. Next chapter will be a major Neji X Akai moment. just so you know. **

**R&R!!! I seriously need the feeddback, dudes!**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN; Thank you for all the reviews and support! It made my day a lot brighter!!! Enjoy chapter 20!

* * *

****Neji** doesn't move from the spot near the door as he waits for her to make a sign that she heard him. But she doesn't move. She's sitting there in silence, looking at something in the distance while her white hair hiding her face from him.

"You know…during these days at the hospital I've thought a lot." She starts to talk in a very low voice. "And I wonder if it would had been better if I didn't wake up at all."

The calm that the Hyuuga felt when he realised that she was alive and breathing turns into a breath taking coldness once again. He's quick to realise that even though she's still alive, something within her died due to that wound and the realisation makes his frown deepen. Neji approaches her slowly and stands at her side but his presence doesn't seem to affect her at all, not like it used to.

"What are you saying?" He demands to know in a quite cold voice, but that is just his way of keeping his fear unnoticed.

A loud sigh leaves her rosy lips and her white eyelashes flutter as she shuts and opens her eyes. Neji looks at her with a very tense body language as he waits for some kind of explanation. A strange feeling enters him when the only sound he can hear is the clock on the wall. An irritation mixed together with concern and pain makes him want to grab and shake her until she realises that those thoughts of death are pure stupidity.

"Do you remember that day, under the sakura tree?" Akai turns too look at him, finally starts to talk too him and not to someone in the distance.

Her misty eyes, her dead but beautiful eyes, looks at him with no emotion in them. It's like she's looking at him but he can't tell what she's really seeing. He finds himself unable to read her and it makes him realise something. Akai who is partly blind and doesn't posses any kekkei genkai could read him easily while he who possesses a greater eyesight than the average can't see what she's thinking.

"I told you about my goal back then, about my ninja path… I wanted to be like any other ninja and protect my village but…I nearly got killed when I tried to do just that. Maybe I'm not supposed to be a ninja after all…"

The unpleasant feeling grows stronger as she tells him about her doubts. He remembers that day when she opened up to him like it wasn't a big deal at all and he recalls the way she made him realise that being a ninja isn't only pain and suffering. It's a lifestyle that makes you able to protect what's important to you. Neji starts to understand why Akai is so depressed now. She feels that she failed to do what she was supposed to do and has somehow lost her self-confidence as a ninja.

"Your opponent was Uchiha Sasuke, he's not an easy person to fight." Neji tries to make her feel better but he knows that he's not doing a good job.

"His name doesn't change the fact that I failed to protect the village!" Akai snaps at him. "I fainted! I _fainted_ …and my home was ruined when I woke up!"

Akai´s cold and angry voice surprises Neji, he has never seen her act this way before. She was always collected, caring and calm around him, well until the argument arose.

"The villagers and my family…_everyone_ always told me that it would be impossible for me to become a ninja due to my Albinism but I kept on fighting…all these years…maybe they were right all along? I can't win over my handicap nor change my fate." Akai talks to herself. " I'm so stupid."

Neji can't take the pain any more and he takes steps toward the injured girl until their bodies almost touch. He notices how she flinches due to the sudden closeness but he ignores it as he puts his hand on her shoulder. Akai tries to move away from Neji but he pulls her into his chest with a steady arm. The depressed girl gives in when her struggle causes her more pain and she settles with her head hidden against Neji´s white robes.

"You should know that something like _fate _or _destiny _can be changed." Neji tells her in a soft tone. "Uzumaki Naruto taught me that you shapes your own path, you told me that I should break way from the destiny my clan chose for me."

"That's different!" Neji can hear how Akai starts to see that he's right but she doesn't want to admit it.

"What is different?"  
"I'm not Naruto, I'm not you! It's easy for you to speak like that since you've super eyes and was born as a genius! No one has ever called you weak, handicapped, clumsy…"

"Do you think that I don't know pain?" Neji demands to know in a very cold voice. "You know me better than that, Akai."

Neji sighs as he grabs her other shoulder and turns her around so she's forced to face him. Akai doesn't fight back but she tries to ignore Neji in a very childish way. She hides behind her long hair and keeps her eyes shut to avoid his intense stare. The Hyuuga´s hold on the girl tightens as she continues to distance herself.

"Look at me." Neji demands. He knows that she barely able to see but is also aware of that she has a lot of different ways to _see _him. He wants her to focus on him instead of her depression.

Akai opens her eyes but she doesn't look at Neji. Her blue orbs dart to the right and to the left in an attempt to hide from him. She gasps as Neji squeezes her shoulders and the pressure makes her wound ache.

"You're hurting me…" She complains in a whisper.

"I said _look_ at me!" Neji yells in her ear.

Akai flinches violently by surprise and fear before she finally meets Neji´s gaze. Her eyes are wide open and her body is tense as she stares at Neji´s blurry face. She can't help but believe that he will scold her, hit her and make her feel even more depressed than she's already feeling…but a amount of hope lingers behind her facade. _What if Neji is like all the others? _

"I've never thought of you as weak." Neji tells her honestly.

The sharp and emotionless tone Akai expected doesn't hit her in the face. Instead a very gentle and caring voice meets her and every word that leaves Neji´s mouth feels like a comforting caress. A surprised gasp leaves her lips and her misty eyes gets clearer than they ever been. Her fear turns into warmth as she continues to seek his gaze through her barely capable eyes. The hands that she thought restrained her turns into an embrace that she enjoys and she finds herself leaning against him unconsciously.

Neji hears how she sighs as her head touches his chest once again and his concerned expression softens as he feels how she starts to relax in his arms. His heart flutters comfortably as he finally is able to hold her close and his eyes soften. A pale hand moves up her back slowly until he buries his fingers in her soft, white hair. _What is this feeling?_

"Pain and losses can sometimes turn into strength, all depends on how you face it." Neji murmurs into her hair.

"…I don't know, Neji."

* * *

**Akane **wrinkles her nose as she disposes her pair of bloody gloves. The plastic gloves join a lot of other tools and junk in the bin, but the stench of blood still lingers around the woman. She looks at her image in the mirror while she taps her fingers against the cold surface of the cupboard.

"Akane-senpai, your shift has ended so…go to her." A nurse tells her with a gentle smile.

"I´ll join you!" Aoi shows up from nowhere.

"Your daughter sure is a fighter, I never thought that she would survive." The nurse adds.

The two of them are already on their way so her comment goes by unnoticed. Akane has waited for the end of her shift so she'll be able to visit Akai. She heard that her daughter woke up yesterday but when she visited her room, she was asleep or dizzy by all the medicine she hasn't been able to talk to her yet. So she really wants to be able to speak to her today. The two Isozaki members walks down the corridor in rushed steps.

Aoi puts his hand on the door and pushes it to the side in a rush, he's in a hurry to see his little sister. He knows that she's ok and just need to recover but working at a hospital without being able to visit his injured sister who woke up recently has made him itchy with irritation.

But the scene he sees in front of him isn't the one he expected, far from it. His dark eyes narrow and his lips turns into a thin straight line as he regards how one of the Konoha ninja embraces his sister. He remembers the man from before, the long brown hair and white eyes are hard to forget. He clenches his fists.

The unknown man has his arms around Akai and holds her close to him in a way that makes Aoi frown. His long hair falls down over his shoulders, his face looks peaceful but a strong feeling of protectiveness lingers around him. Akai, who Aoi knows wouldn't let anyone hold her like that, seems to enjoy the hug. Aoi flinches when a pair of intense eyes opens and looks directly at him.

"You!" Aoi points at the Konoha ninja.

Akane looks at her daughter and the man with wide eyes from her place behind Aoi. Her eyes are glued on the very handsome man that has her daughter in a passionate embrace and she finds herself at a loss of words. Akai´s reaction makes her even more interested in the man. Akai´s cheeks are red like tomatoes as she looks up at her mother and older brother, she's quick to distance herself from Neji. Neji lets go of her slowly before he takes some steps back.

"Hello sweetie, how are you feeling? Do you want more painkillers?"

Akane decides to focus on her daughter instead of creating an unpleasant situation by asking why the man is in her room. She hugs Akai gently and feels so relieved now when she finally is able to be like this with her.

"I'm fine mom." Akai tells her in a low voice. Akane doesn't know if it's out of embarrassment or tiredness.

"I'm so glad that you finally…" Akane murmurs between her quick kisses against Akai´s face.

Aoi can't help but stay tense as he regards the man. He's quick to use the pieces of a puzzle, the man's eyes and visible strength to make a conclusion.

"You're a Hyuuga aren't you?"

"I'm Hyuuga Neji."

"What are you…" Aoi is about to questions Neji´s motives before he's interrupted by Akane.

"Thank you Hyuuga-san for being here for my daughter, but can you excuse us?"

Neji understands the situation and bows respectfully towards the mother and turns to leave the room. He glances at Akai before he opens the door and leaves the Isozaki family alone in the hospital room.

Aoi sighs. _What a great way to get to know a genius like him! _He runs his fingers through his hair before he joins the family reunion. _What a nice start! _He scolds himself mentally before he glances at the two women in the room. It doesn't take long before the mother in the Isozaki household starts to lecture her daughter.

"You got a mission and left without a word… and when I finally met you again you was close to death, don't you know how worried I've been?" Akane complains.

Akai starts to return to the shell Neji was able to pull her out from and she looks into the distance while she listens. She wants to put up walls around her so she can avoid the words she doesn't want to her, she wants to drown out the words Neji said weren't true. Who should she trust, her mother or Neji?

"I left a note…" Is her defence.

"That's not the problem!" Akane exclaims. "Honey, I told you not to go on such dangerous missions, don't you remember?"

"…" I chose to forget.

"You're overestimating your skills! You can't ignore the fact that you've a handicap anymore. It'll kill you! I won't allow you to go on a mission ever again."

Akai´s eyes widen.

"Mother…" Aoi dislikes the way Akane scolds her.

"Are Yoshi and Kanaye-san alright?" Akai asks in a bored tone, she wants to change the topic. She hides her pain well under a facade of indifference.

"They're fine." Aoi answers. "Everyone is so busy to prepare the village for the next attack so I guess they will get a hard time to visit you."

"I've not seen them in a while…" Akai complains.

"Stop changing the subject!" Her mother complains loudly while gesturing with her hands.

Akai´s eyebrows twitch as her mental stress starts to make her go crazy. She's irritated and wants to sleep, she's in no mood for a fight with her mother now.

"Mom I can't take this right now! Everything you say just makes this worse than it already is. Why can't you just stop worrying so much?"

"You almost died, honey!"

"_Almost_ is the keyword here! I'm still breathing!" Akai yells at her. "I'm so confused. I just want to recover in peace…"

The woman sighs as her daughter resists her. She can feel how Akai doubts herself and her family's words; she's not only in need for her wounds to heal, her soul is injured too. Who knows how long it'll take before the child Akane knows will smile at her again? _That mission to Konoha ruined everything…_

"Who was that man?" It's now Akane´s turn to change the subject.

"Hyuuga Neji." Aoi answers in his sister's stead.

"He told me that." Akane sweat drops anime style.

"He's my friend and we used to hang out when I was in Konoha." Akai explains. "He taught me a lot of new moves and how to meditate."

"Hmm?"

"Mom, leave me alone…"

* * *

**Naruto **wipes away the sweat on his forehead with a deep, tired sigh. The blonde is currently working hard to make up for the failure near the bridge the other but he can't help wishing that he was in a cold pool instead. He can't stand the exotic atmosphere, the dampness makes it uncomfortably hot for him.

"It's so hot…" He complains.

"Stop complaining." Shikamaru tells him with a raised brow.

The Nara genius isn't angry with Naruto, or the rest of his team, but he dislikes the way they complain. They got themselves into this mess so it would be easier for them to do their job without complaining and making the situation worse.

"The family in that red building over there asked for two more litres of water, hurry up."

Naruto swallows his curses as he grabs two heavy buckets of water and heads over to the house Shikamaru is pointing at. Lee and Kiba glances at each other before they sigh; both of them is sure that Shikamaru secretly enjoys torturing them. All he needs is a leather whip and the picture would be perfect.

"Keep digging!" Shikamaru orders then in a troublesome expression.

"Oh man, just kill me!" Kiba groans.

"Stay positive, stay positive!" Lee chants with a forced smile. "The towns people will be happy!"

"Yo Lee! They hate us and I think that it won't change." Kiba tells him.

Kiba is right. A small crowd of Grass people stands not too far away from them with angry faces and some children insults them while running around.

"They're not bad people…" Lee tells Kiba. "It's kinda our fault too you know?"

"How can it be our fault!?" Kiba yells at him in a very irritated manner.

"Grass asked for an alliance really early but Konoha thought that other things were more important and let the documents stay untouched. If we signed the alliance back then the damages on the village could have been less severe…" He explains.

"But that isn't _our_ fault!"

"Guys, shut up!" Shikamaru roars at them. "This is our mission, it doesn't matter if they dislike us or not because we will protect them anyway. Understood?"

"Yes father…" Kiba answers with sarcasm.

"Whose father?" Naruto looks at them in confusion.

The blonde man returned form bringing water and stands there with two empty buckets.

Shikamaru exhales deeply.

"I guess we all need a break."

"Let's visit Akai, I heard that she's being released from the hospital today." Lee suggests. "Yoshi-san and Kanaye-san must be reliable sources, right?"

"Those jerks!" Kiba growls.

"Eh, they invited us to join them so they can't really be called jerks right?" Lee sweat drops.

* * *

**Akai **faces the wind as she exits the hospital. The breeze caresses her face gently and makes her hair look messy but she doesn't care at all. All her senses are focused on taking in the new pictures of the village she used to know so she won't hurt herself by accident when walking. It saddens her that her home got ruined like this.

"So what should I do now?" She murmurs to herself.

"Isn't that obvious?" Someone tells her from behind.

Akai eyes snap open as she realises who it is and she sees orange and yellow spots though the mist. She knew that there was a Konoha team in Grass and that Neji was one of the members but she had no clue that more of her friends followed her.

"…Naruto?…Everyone?"

"This is where we first met Akai-chan, in this village. Do you remember?"

"Yeah… I saved your ass." She remarks.

"You didn't have to put it like that!" Naruto exclaims."What I want to say is that we should protect that memory together, dattebayo."

"Eh?"

"You should keep on fighting, Akai." Yoshi tells her. "You're stronger than me so how do you think that I would feel if you gave up?"

The green haired teen stands next to Naruto and Akai detects his golden eyes. Happy feelings make her smile as she recognises her two beloved team mates. She missed them, a lot. She can almost _see_ how the two young men smiles at her like they always done and it makes her chest hurt.

"Yoshi, Kanaye-san…I've missed you guys."

"Akai…" Kanaye murmurs. "We thought that we lost you."

Akai detects emotion in Kanaye´s voice and that is enough to convince her that he truly was worried about her. The man from the clan who uses horses in battle is not a guy who expresses emotion everyday. The albino smiles up at him.

"Don't think about what mother said. I know how much your ninja way means to you so it would be better to die than retiring as a housewife right?" Aoi tells her.

"Brother, you're here too?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I thought that you was on mother's side."

"I understand why mother wants you to quit but I know a man who wanted you to live your life as you wanted."

"Father?"

"Mmm…"

Akai looks away deep in thought at this. _Father…how could I forget his words?_

"We´ll help you, since we´re friends!" Kiba tells her with a grin, his dog barks loudly.

"F-friends?" Akai can´t hold in the surprised gasp.

All the people's noises make her see a picture of the crowd around her. Her team mates Yoshi and Kanaye, her brother Aoi, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Lee and Neji too are standing there next to her. Akai doesn't know when it happened or how but she's suddenly surrounded by people she loves and cares about. And there´s even more people that she knows and likes for an example Ino, Choji, Hinata even Shino! And….Kumori! _Oh I miss Kumori so much! _Akai tries to fight back her tears but she can't push back the wetness completely.

"You're not alone, baka." Kiba adds. "Hee!? Are you crying?"

"Hell no!!" Akai yells at him. " Why would I, Isozaki Akai, cry like a baby? Hmpf!"

Akai tries to act tough but it just makes her look even more moved by her friends´ gathering. This makes Kiba and Nauro laugh.

"I'm glad to see that you're back, Akai." Shikamaru tells her with a smirk.

"Well, I must say that you've a strange taste Akai. A lot of crazy friends…" Yoshi remarks.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto shots him a fake glare.

"Yoshi!" Kanaye grabs his team mate by his shoulder. "Stop acting like a five year old!"

"Hehe…." Akai chuckles while sweat dropping.

"Minna-san, lets do our best to protect Grass and the alliance!" Lee changes the topic with a sudden shout. "If we fight together, no one will fail!"

Lee puts his hand forward and Naruto is quick to put his hand on Lee´s. Everyone stands there with smiling faces waiting for Akai to join. A small smile grows larger on the albino's pink lips as she steps forward and puts her hand on Kiba´s.

"Woah, you know this situation has a very _shoujo manga_ feeling in the air….is it just me?" Akai murmurs to herself.

"What are you talking about?" Neji asks her.

"Nothing…" She smiles. "Everyone, thank you..."

Why does the words from one's loved ones mean so much more than the average? _I hope I'm not like one of those main characters in a fluffy shoujo manga! Moe!_ Akai smiles to herself and her eyes widen. All the inner pain she felt earlier today is gone and a new determination has entered her being. Maybe it's too early to give up?

Seeing, feeling and knowing that everyone smiles at her makes her feel a happiness that she hasn't felt in years. The happiness an innocent child is only able to feel and appreciate. _I'm sure than I'm looking like a fool now, smiling like a child…but it's okay. It's only my friends who's able to see this side of me…so…I´ll ignore my mother's orders once again!_

This is a start of something new, a start of a new book with a lot of unwritten pages. The future is still unwritten and now one knows how the book will end.

* * *

**AN; so end of chapter 20, what do you think? Neji and Akai finally had a moment together! Woah, I´ve wanted to write that for soooo long now! heheh... Poor Neji, Aoi doesn´t really have a good impression of him at the moment! Gosh!**

**Please R&R!**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN; Hello again! Thank you to those who reviewed! A pretty long chapter for you to enjoy, here comes chapter 21!

* * *

****Akai **feels nostalgic as she sits on the chair in her room. She's not been there for several months now and the familiar scent makes her very emotional. Can you both miss a place so much that you cry and want to get away from just that place with an equal desire? That bed she slept in for years seems so unfamiliar and foreign now and she finds herself missing her hotel room and Kumori. She longs for her friend badly.

The albino girl ties her white hair with a ribbon so it won't get in her way as she puts on some sun-lotion on her face. She's planning to sneak out to train later and she needs the protection so she won't wake up with a swollen face the next day. That would so break her cover. She was released from the hospital some days ago and Akane takes care of her now. Her health has improved quickly but the wound still hurts somewhat. Medical jutsu can do magic in Akai´s opinion.

Talking about the devil, a loud knock can be heard and Akai hears the footsteps of her mother. She hurries to hide the bottle of lotion and she wipes her face before the woman is able to open the door and enter. Akane puts a tray with medicine and tools on Akai´s bed before she starts the regular check up.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Fine, just a little sore." Akai answers absentmindedly.

Her mind is elsewhere, to be precise, she's thinking of how she can regain her condition and health quickly. The best way to train with the wound and how she can help Grass when the next raid starts. She's determined to help her team and friends from Konoha with their task of protecting her home even though her mother told her to stay indoors.

Another thing that's on her mind is a certain person who she want to meet more than ever; Hyuuga Neji. The love she feels for him seems to have grown stronger after their quarrel and she doesn't want to be away from him for too long. It's the first time she feels like this towards a person of the opposite sex and she wants to treasure that feeling.

"The scar looks fine but it'll sadly be there for some time now." Akane interrupts her thoughts of the white-eyed genius.

"It doesn't matter since I won't really be able to see it."

She can hear how her mother sighs deeply but Akai decides to ignore her silent sentence. A new pair of footsteps makes her turn her face towards the doorway. A smile grows on her lips as she recognises the new scent as her younger brother's. The young ninja-to-be walks into the room and she feels how he regards the scar on her stomach.

"Onee-san, does it hurt?" Gosai asks her.

"No, not one bit." She answers while patting his head gently. "Come here, I want a hug."

Gosai obeys hesitantly and he is sure to avoid touching her newly cleaned scar as Akai pushes his smaller body against hers. She missed her family but Gosai is the person she longed for the most when she was away.

"Welcome home." He murmurs against her chest.

Akai can't find the words _I'm home _even though she wants to say them. The young and innocent child doesn't notice this since he's just happy that his bigger sister finally returned. Akane interrupts them by touching Gosai´s shoulder lightly.

"We need to leave her alone for a while now, she needs to sleep off the medicine…let's go and prepare dinner."

"Yeah…" Gosai agrees.

Akai says nothing as the two of them leaves her room. But she starts to move when the door shuts close. She wraps another layer of bandage around the cut before she pulls on a t-shirt and prepares herself for training. She finds herself reaching out for her jumper but withdraws her hand as she remembers that it was ripped to pieces during the…accident. Her hand trembles for a second before she pulls on another of her jumpers, takes on her pair of ninja sandals and grabs her pole.

Her mother thinks that she's sleeping peacefully due to her medication but the woman has no idea of that she secretly sneaks out. It's the perfect way to makes sure that she won't come in to her room and find her bed empty. Akai doesn't like doing this behind her back but she can't take their argument at this time so she keeps it a secret for her and her mother's sake. Or maybe she's just egoistic for once?

Akai sits down on her bed and closes her eyes. She focuses all of her senses, except her vision, to locate her family members downstairs. The sound of metal against metal means that they're just about to start preparing the food, the low vibrations tells her about their movements and she finds the coast clear. Akai hides her chakra while she slowly approaches her window. She opens it carefully so she won't make any sound and swing her legs over the windowsill and jumps out.

"And the adventure begins…" She murmurs to herself as she slowly makes her way down the roof.

* * *

**Kanaye and Yoshi **greet Akai with warm expressions as she appears out of a cloud of grass strands. The grass encircles her before it falls to the ground around her feet. The smell of hay and horses reaches her nose and she frowns.

"So you can already use some jutsu?" Kanaye asks her as he keeps brushing his horse Yuki´s mane.

"Yeah but just some basic stuff." Akai answers. "Hey Yuki-chan."

She pats the horse and the animal spares her a single glance. Akai has never really been good with animals but the horse has finally started to accept her as a presence that'll be close by during missions. A low neigh leaves the grey giant.

"Did your mother let you out or…?" Yoshi asks her hesitantly.

"Let's not talk about it." Is her short reply.

Kanaye stops brushing his animal and glances at his female team mate. He knows that she and her mother doesn't agree about her training or missions but Akai´s reaction makes him think that it has gotten a lot worse than before. The more mature young man recalls how she struggled with her mother when they got their first big mission outside Grass´ boarders. The strict doctor almost forbade her to do anything that could hurt her.

"It's time for me to get independent and I won't care what she says about it." Akai tells them in a distant tone.

"Good." Yoshi nods. "Then let's start warming up."

Akai´s mood gets better by each second that she is in her team mate's company. Their close bond makes it possible to handle heavy situations without words and she sometimes feel that they understands her better than she does. Words are not needed. She and Yoshi starts to run laps while Kanaye continues to tae care of Yuki.

Yoshi is quick to notice Akai´s disadvantage now after her injury but he decides that she will have to say stop if he gets too serious. He knows that Akai hates when you doesn't fight with you're all even though you have a disadvantage of some sort. The golden-eyed boy doesn't want to face her fury so he acts just the way he used to during their regular spars.

Yoshi stops to think how he should approach her without getting noticed but decides just to run. Her eyes are closed but he can see how she frowns as he comes closer; she has sensed him. Golden eyes widen as a quick kick is directed towards his stomach but his small and gracious body makes him able to evade the attack. He inhales deeply as he regards her and he notices how her fighting pose has changed since he last fought her. Akai is more collected and calm in her body language than she was before.

"Come at me seriously!" She shouts at him.

"Heheh interesting."

Akai turns her head towards his voice and uses her foot to locate precise location. The vibrations in the ground guide her as she runs towards him with her palm like a weapon. Yoshi leans back, meets her hand with his and pushes her away by using her own power against her. Akai can't stop and continues to run forward in the direction Yoshi turned her and it doesn't take seconds before she feels a sharp pain in her leg. He kicked her.

"Your offence has improved greatly Akai-san." Kanaye comments her fighting style. "But that leaves your defence totally open. Fix it."

"Yoshi don't get so full of yourself, if you decides to kick her leg chose a vital spot like the knee."

"I don't need your help!" Yoshi yells back at him.

Akai bites her lips out of frustration, she needs to calm down and fight like she used to in Konoha. She needs to be more collected, calmer and have control over her body. She needs to relax. A deep sigh leaves her slightly parted lips. She clenches her fists and stretches her fingers twice before she gets back into a more defensive pose. _I've to remember what Neji taught me…_Instead of attacking she waits for her opponent's first move this time.

Yoshi, who's very impulsive, doesn't see the hidden pattern behind her change and he hurries to attack her from behind. His eyes widen as she suddenly grabs his wrist, pulls him forward and punches him straight in the face.

"You've to find a better balance between offence and defence to improve." Kanaye tells her.

"Hey! Why don't you help me too?"

"Hn." _You told me not to, idiot._

Akai feels how her body starts to get flushed by the exercise and her ragged breath makes her irritated. Her body isn't in a good shape, she knows that, but being this tired after a little sparring isn't fun at all. She understands that she won't gain anything by pushing herself too hard.

"Let's take a break."

" But we just got started!" Yoshi pouts.

"I'm tired. I need to rest."

Yoshi stops complaining when he notice how Akai wipes away some sweat from her forehead. It's hard to see how a person that's more skilled than him being this injured and weak. His sneaky eyes turn soft as he regards her touch her stomach with a pained expression. Even though he always has regarded her as a rival does he care for her deeply. Her pain is his pain.

Yoshi sits down next to her in silence, he doesn't know what to tell her. He runs his fingers through his green hair. Kanaye joins them after a while and the three-man cell enjoys the silence together.

"I need to buy some garlic."

"Why all of a sudden?" Yoshi asks her.

"It's said that garlic speeds up one's recovery."

The smiles return to both Yoshi´s and Akai´s lips. Kanaye sighs mentally; both of them acts just like a pair of children sometimes. Her two team mates decides to make her company and the trio walks, well Kanaye rides Yuki, to a well known store. Kanaye leaves the animal outside and the loyal horse stands still as they enter the building.

"Oh _that_ girl…she's back!" An old lady comments as they enter.

"Hey don't stare she'll notice…" Another one warns her.

"Nah I heard that she's completely blind."

Akai ignores the comments but the ladies receive a disrespectful glare from Yoshi. The two of them flinch and turn away with shame. The smaller of the team snorts as he also turns away to help his friends shopping.

"I want this one, please."

Akai, who knows where the garlic is, is quick to grab what she want and pay for it. She hands the lady a little more than the actual price and waits to get her change. The lady glances at her before she puts down the money and hands her some coins.

"Here you go…and here's the change."

"…" Akai opens turn her eyes to the woman. "Miss, knowing that I'm blind you tries to deceive me…This is not enough change."

Kanaye, who was about to react, turns his eyes to the lady to regard her expression. The word _Busted_ is written on her forehead and she is quick to give Akai some extra coins. Her shaking hands tells Akai of the situation and her face turns sour.

"Oh! I- I- I must have counted wrong!" She tries to explain.

"Say what you want." Akai sighs and turns away.

"You know, I really have to save up money now when the future is uncertain and…." She tries to make herself look better by blaming it on the war.

"I don't care! Now, good bye."

* * *

**Even **though Akai knows that what happened in the store was a stunt to trick her does she understand that her home is in a bad spot at the moment. The Sound's troops blocks their export and import of food and water as if they're trying to weaken them until they get what they want. It won't take long before their food and water disappears.

"Have you heard from Yamamoto-sama? What should Grass do?"

"None of us knows yet, if you want to ask, ask Shikamaru-san." Kanaye tells her. "He seems to be a brilliant strategist and is planning our counter attack at the moment."

"It'll be ok if it's Shikamaru." She tells them in a confident voice. "But I don't want to do nothing!"

She's somewhat relieved to hear that Shikamaru has been put into charge. The laid-back young man doesn't look smart but he's really sharp in these kinds of situations. Ino told her about some missions they were able to complete only because of his skills to calculate the outcomes of a battle. Akai will finally be able to see him in action.

Akai snaps out of her thoughts as she senses a hard stare on her.

"Your task is to get better. That should be your priority."

"…Yeah." She shrugs it off.

"Akai-san, I'm serious." Kanaye tells her in an intense voice.

She nods at last and sighs. She can't be foolish and rush into action when she's not perfectly healed. Uchiha Sasuke almost killed her when she was as good as she can be and he would succeed to take her life is she attacked with her body in this shape. Her goal is the same; to protect her village but she's now even more determinated to do it since she doesn't have to face her fears alone anymore.

"We'll be able to win somehow, as long as we stick together."

"I agree."

She smiles broadly to no one in particular. Her battle against the Uchiha made her realise a lot and she's somewhat glad that it happened. She wouldn't be so close with her friends if it didn't and a certain good-looking Hyuuga wouldn't have embraced her like that. Akai enters her own world of fantasies. She never thought that he would come here to help, she knows that he probably got the orders to do so but it doesn't make her happiness fade. Akai recently understood that she loves the man but she still can't understand how strange she feels when he is concerned. He makes her act like a love sick girl and she dislikes it.

"I want to see Neji." She murmurs to herself.

Akai´s eyes snap open as she realises what she just said out loud. And she's right; the cunning member of her team caught her little mistake. A cold feeling enters her body as she realises that Yoshi is looking at her with_ those _eyes.

"Heh…? That scary looking guy with long hair?" Yoshi asks her with a smirk.

"Yeah. Oh wait a second, I haven't really introduced you to the Konoha team right?" She tries to avoid Neji as the main subject.

"Oh it doesn't matter, we have already met." Yoshi makes gestures with his hands. "Who's this Neji? Where did you meet him?"

Akai knows that her face is about to turn as red as a tomato and she tilts her head to the side so she can hide her blush.

"….But…I've to sneak back before mother gets suspicious… Let's meet again, ok?"

"Don't run away from this!" Yoshi yells after her in a playful tone.

His nice expression fades as Akai turns her back to him. His golden, cat-like eyes follow her as she hurries away and a new seriousness can be seen in them. His dark green hair frames his face and the most childish-looking member of the team looks grown up for a second as a new emotion graces his face. Kanaye sends him a quick glance.

"Yoshi?" Kanaye dislikes this new expression on his friend's face.

"It's nothing."

"She sure has changed, Akai-san." He tells him. "Maybe being away from Grass was what she needed."

Yoshi shrugs and stays silent.

* * *

**Akai **sighs in a relived manner as she slips through the window into her room. There are no signs of panic or anger so she believes that no one noticed that she was gone at all. Wiping away the sweat on her forehead she tries to make herself look relaxed and innocent. _I was supposed to sleep, not train so…_Akai puts the garlic on her desk and thinks about how she should prepare it later.

A loud knock warns her of the danger before someone enters the room. Akai sits down on the chair quickly and pretends to comb her hair.

"The food is ready, onee-chan." Gosai peeks at her from the doorway.

"I´ll be there, just give me second, kay?"

"Mm." He nods and leaves.

Akai joins the other Isozaki members at the table. The nice smell of newly boiled rice mixed together with beef makes her mouth water. But the amount of food is different to what she's used to and it bothers her.

"What's wrong with the food?"

"Don't complain." Aoi tells her. "This is our family's share for the day. We can't eat unnecessarily much now when Sound is blocking our resources."

_This…is more serious than I thought…_Akai chews on a piece of meet while pondering about the war. She can't help but feel a small amount of stress since she's probably not healthy enough to battle when the new battle will start.

"Okaa-san, I want more rice…" Gosai complains.

"Oh sweetie we have to save our food at the moment. I'm sorry."

Akane touches Gosai´s her to comfort him.

"Something has to be done…why is it taking so long?" Akai comments.

"These things can't be rushed." Aoi tells her and is about to say something more when their mother opens her mouth.

"Don't talk about it at the table!" Akane tells them in a loud, irritated voice.

Akai flinches violently by her voice and turns her face to the woman. Aoi reacts the same but hides his surprise better than his younger sister. The two of them looks at their mother with shared feelings. Gosai glances at Akai and then at Aoi with a nervous expression; he doesn't like how things turn out.

"Mother I've to inform Akai about Grass´ situation is she should be able to help out when the attack comes."

_Oh no, Aoi! _Akai shakes her head. _Just great…doesn't he know that mother…_ she tried to stay in good terms with Akane but Aoi ruined it totally by being too straight-forward.

"Akai won't do such things! Aoi you should know better than urge your injured sister to fight a war! End of discussion."

Aoi´s brown eyes narrow at this but he says nothing more. A new tenseness spreads around the table and no one wants to break the silence. Akai pierces her meet with her chopsticks, which is very bad manners in their household. She feels as if the cage around her gets narrower by each passing second.

* * *

**The **darkness of the night cover the sky but the once calm village hidden in the Grass stays awake with several lit torches. The only proof that the village is there is the growing dots of fire. Even Akai can see the lights clearly from her window. The young woman leans against the windowsill while observing how the ninja outside does their tasks. She wants to join them so badly but thinks it's a bad idea after the incident at dinner.

"Should I go…?" She asks herself. "I can't stop fighting now!"

Akai gets up and slips out through the window in a sneaky manner. The cold air hits her skin and she shiver due to the cold and the excitement. Her long hair looks like silver in the darkness and it floats behind her back as she makes her way down the roof and down the street.

Akai is quick to find her friends and to her surprise her team is also there helping them with preparing weapons for the upcoming battle. Many faces look up as she approaches them but a bright and happy voice makes her smile.

"Akai-chan!" Naruto greets her with a smile. He has a very sharp spear in his hands.

"Woah, don't point that toward me, thank you!" She smiles back.

"I'm glad you were able to sneak out again." Yoshi tells her. "My spy lessons paid of right?"

This comment and question makes all her friends look at her for a moment. They're all quick to understand that Akai have some family trouble that she doesn't want to be so open with. Akai turns away a little and avoids Yoshi´s question.

"I thought I could help out but small, pointy things isn't really my speciality." She explains. "I would surely point out somebody's eye out of mistake!"

Yoshi looks at her for a while and understands that he shouldn't have mentioned it. He thought that all of her new friends already knew about her but he was wrong. It makes him somewhat content since it means that they're not as close as he first thought.

"Then why don't you join Neji?" Lee suggests with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"He's over there, meditating."

"Sure…I can do that."

"He seemed a little off today so talk with him." Kiba tells her. "He has been acting strange lately."

Akai wrinkle her nose. Something big must have happened if Neji is acting strange since last time he did he told her about his fear about a pair of twins in the clan. What could have happened now? What Akai doesn't know, and probably never will know, is that she's the reason behind his mood swings.

"Why do she has to do it?" Yoshi asks them.

"Eh? Oh Akai is one of the few who can handle his cold temper you see." Lee explains to the Grass ninja.

* * *

"**Care** if I join you?" She asks him in a quiet tone.

Neji is sitting alone in the darkness where the light from the torches can't touch him. His back is turned towards Akai and she's afraid that she disturbed his peace with her question. A small nod makes her sit down next to him. She exhales deeply and starts to relax while thinking about many things.

"Are you alright?" She dares to ask him.

"Isn't that my line?" He answers her question with another question.

This makes Akai turn her full focus to the man. His white eyes are glued at her and their whiteness makes her very wary. Neji sounds almost as if he was worried about her. Akai turns away a little and closes her eyes. She touches the grass with her fingers.

"I'm…getting better slowly." She confesses. "But it feels like I haven't made any progress at all. My mother she… she's so…"

She finds herself at a loss of words. An irritation grows inside of her and she realises that she won't be able to meditate at all. The calm atmosphere around Neji is ruined and she's about to apologise when he moves closer to her. Akai shuts her mouth and pays attention to what he's doing. He pats his lap twice.

"This is a one time offer…you know."

Akai looks at him with a surprised expression and it doesn't turn prettier when she understands that he used her own sentence. _He's…offering…? _She can feel how a blush starts to grown on her cheeks and the embarrassed girl is quick to accept the offer since she knows that he won't ask her again. She stomps her foot against the ground one more time to locate Neji´s exact position before she lower herself down to his lap.

His hand touches hers for a second as he guides her. Akai feels really clumsy as she accidentally bumps her chin against his knee but he doesn't seem to mind it a tall. His long fingers lead the way until she's lying with her head in his lap. Her misty eyes stare up at him and she wishes that she could see the expression he's wearing.

She wants to hide her blush even though she knows that it's impossible. Her albinism makes it impossible and she hates it. Her face is probably as red as a tomato at the moment. She looks away and closes her eyes in an attempt to hide. Then she recalls that it's night but who knows how much Neji can see in the darkness?

"Relax." He murmurs quietly.

She tenses as she feels how Neji starts to massage her temples and touch her hair as she used to do with him. It makes her very alert but his gentle touch coaxes her to relax and enjoy the attention. Her body becomes lighter against his as she finally gives in and Neji keeps on touching her hair.

He has always been fascinated about her hair colour and he recalls that when he first saw her that was what made him really notice her. But what made him truly _see_ her was the time when they met during practise and she found the bird he couldn't see. He thought that she was one of those a brat that only wanted to annoy him or there to confess her love for him but she was different. Well, she did annoy him that day but something she said caught his attention. He remembers how tense their first meetings were and smiles in a contented manner as he notices how much their relationship has improved since then.

"I think your brother dislikes me." He states out of the blue.

He has met the young man twice but always under strange circumstances and the Hyuuga has a feeling that the man won't accept him easily. The first met when he carried his unconscious sister and their second meeting was when he interrupted them in the hospital. He must think that Neji is after Akai, in a bad way.

"Don't take it to heart." Is her short answer. "It's easy to get into his bad book, trust me I know." She's ironic but it lingers a hint of irritation behind her words.

Akai feels how Neji´s stomach tightens and vibrates in what she thinks is a small, silent chuckle. She has missed these moments with him and she thought that she never would be able to do this anymore. It makes her treasure the moment more than usual. She missed the times where they could just hang out and be honest, she even missed the times when they just were together without having a real conversation. She missed _him._

She can hear the distant voices of her friends and it seems like they're discussing something. The sound of crickets, the darkness and the sound of the wind make it very cosy and the two of them enjoys it together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Neji asks her after a while.

Akai is quiet for a while but she starts to explain when she understands what he was referring to. She feels as if she has already told him this story but doesn't hesitate to open her heart for the man she likes once again. Now she knows that she can trust him.

"Well…I…my mother won't let me leave the house anymore. I've always had a hard time to make it as a ninja due to her but she won't leave me alone after the incident."

"But you're here." Neji states the fact.

"I sneaked out." Akai explains. "I feel like my home and village are what's holding me back. That they're the fences I need to climb over to reach freedom. But…no one should feel like this about one's family or home."

Neji listens to her voice in silence. He understands her better than he thinks she knows. He feels almost the same since the Hyuuga clan keeps him in a leach all the time. His family is also his cage. But this is the first time he gets the chance to fully understand what Akai is going through. The girl he got to know in Konoha is different to the girl he has in his lap now, and Neji wants to see all sides of her.

"I should be happy that I'm home again but I can't truly say that I'm glad to return. I have never been as close to freedom as I was during my stay in Konoha. I wish this never happened…" Her voice is close to the breaking point. "Sometimes I wish that I wasn't born like this with useless eyes, oversensitive skin and freaky-looking appearance. It always bring me down in the end."

Neji feels how Akai shakes slightly against him. His eyes soften as he holds her and he tells her his opinion. He doesn't say it just to make her feel better it's just the way he sees things and he wishes to share it with her.

"A lot of people are born with disadvantages but it's their road to be able to fend for themselves that makes them truly strong." Neji tells her. "I don't see your albinism as a bad thing."

"Hee?" She questions him with doubt in her voice.

"Your lack of eyesight has made your other senses much stronger than those of the average. Isn't that something to be grateful for?"

"I guess you're right."

"It's important to think positively when you're facing hardships."

"Thank you Neji." A deep, relieved sigh leaves her lips. "Everything you say sounds so right. Have you practised or are you born with that advantage?"

"Who knows."

The two of them enjoys the silence together and the uncomfortable sensations are far, far away now. Neji keeps on combing her hair with his fingers and it makes her a little sleepy. Just being with the Hyuuga like this makes her feel protected and cared for but at the same time feel respected and like she's worth something. Neji has never treated her as if she was fragile and that makes her accept his way to comfort her.

"Akai!!!" Kiba yells out her name.

The sudden voice makes her jump in Neji´s lap and both of them turns to look at the Inuzuka boy and his dog. Neji dislikes the expression that's on his friend's face and he doesn't need his Byakugan to see that something isn't right. Akai pushes herself out of Neji´s embrace out of embarrassment, she doesn't really feel that Kiba should see their closeness, but her nervous feelings fades as she also understands the situation.

"What is it?"

"Your mother is here and…she's FURIOUS!"

* * *

**AN; Cliffhanger, yay! So what do you think is going to happen further on? I also wonder if you caught a hint that may cause problems in the future. I´ll give a cockie to the one who mentiones it! Please R&R ( I´ll also give the one who makes my 100th review a cockie) **


	22. Chapter 22

**AN; A BIG thank you to blaze who gave me my 100****th**** review. Also thank you to Kmz! She was the one to see the hint I mentioned and you'll all notice it in this chapter. Thank you to all others who reviewed and keep on supporting this story. **

**If you're interested, there are new pictures of Akai and Neji on my Deviantart account, go to my profile for a link there. Now one with the story!

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****Kiba **brushes Akamaru´s messy fur with a small brush and the large dog makes very contented sounds. Akamaru loves to be taken care of especially by his most beloved person; the said Inuzuka. The two of them have a special bond since childhood.

It has been a rough day. The Inuzuka, together with Lee and Naruto, was forced to work very hard due to what they did some days ago. The three of them can finally breathe now when the sun has set near the horizon. The cold makes Kiba relax and he leans against his dog.

Naruto and Lee together with Akai´s two team mates, are talking about something but he doesn't feel any energy to join the conversation at all. His dark brown eyes regards the youngest man there who he thinks is called Yoshi. He doesn't look pleased. The brown-haired man follows the other man´s stare and finds himself looking in Neji´s and Akai´s direction.

His eyes widen as she sees how close the two of them are. Neji is sitting in silence as he always does and there's nothing wrong with that but Akai is lying with her head in his lap. _Whaaaat? _He has never seen Neji act that gentle around anyone before. That warmth in his eyes is something he has never seen before and that he didn't think the indifferent Hyuuga could show. _Akai must have melted his cold personality somehow…_He ponders to himself. Kiba is glad and hopes that their relationship will make the Hyuuga stop acting like a, well you know, like a bastard around him. He doesn't want to be slapped again, that's for sure. He shivers visibly and his motions make Akamaru bark. The dog seems to understand what his master is thinking about and agrees.

He looks away since he gets the feeling that he shouldn't be looking at that intimidate scene. A snort makes him look at Yoshi once again. It strikes him; can this be jealousy? Kiba who has since birth lived close to dogs and nature can easily sense such things but the feeling radiating from the green-haired man is different. It's much darker.

"Hey, Yoshi-san. Are you alright?" He just has to ask.

"…Hn, why do you ask?"

Kiba´s thoughts are proved correct as the always happy and friendly Grass ninja almost snaps back at him. Something is wrong here, he knows it, but is it as bad as he thinks it is?

"Oh nothing, you look pissed that's all."

_I need to keep an eye on that kid._ Kiba tells himself before he returns to relaxing. The Inuzuka doesn't get the chance to fully calm down though since a loud voice breaks the silence. Kiba and Yoshi turns around to see how a woman talks with Naruto and Lee with a very panicky and frustrated voice. She seems to be really upset about something.

"Akane-senpai." Kanaye calls out the woman's name. "Calm down…"

"What's wrong?" Yoshi approaches Akai´s mother and tries to act innocent even though he's fully aware of what she's angry over.

"You are fully aware of what's wrong!" She yells at them. "Where is my daughter?!"

"Oh, don't tell me that you're Akai-chan´s mother?" Kiba asks her with a surprised expression on his face.

She looks at him with murderous eyes as if thinking that he's a complete moron. Kiba and Lee reels back at this and decides not to bother her too much.

"Your daughter is over there." Shikamaru is the one to show her the way.

Kiba swallows his saliva. He doesn't doubt Neji´s or Akai´s senses but who knows if they'll notice her mother when they're together like that? He is quick to turn around and run towards them. It doesn't take long before a pair of white eyes meets his.

"Akai, your mother is here and she's….FURIOUS!"

Kiba didn't let himself believe that the situation was that worse as it seemed to be but Akai´s expression makes him realise that it's worse. The calmness around his two friend's fades immediately and Akai´s body gets tense of panic.

"D-does she know that I'm here?" Akai stutters.

"Yeah! Now hurry before she kills someone!"

"Fuck…"Akai murmurs to herself.

Neji regards Akai in silence as the two of them slowly makes their way towards Kiba. The albino girl is deadly quiet but her expression tells him everything he wants to know She sneaked out tonight and her mother found out, which means that a major scolding is waiting for her. It's just like what she told him before. Akai´s mother won't let her live as she wants to and since she tried to break free she'll have to face the consequences.

Neji regards the woman and recognises her as the person who arrived with her brother when he visited Akai in the hospital. His white eyes narrow as he notices the way she glares at Akai and he finds himself wanting to protect her from her mother's wrath.

"Mother…" Akai calls out her name in a way that tells her friends that she's about to explain but Akane ignores it completely.

"I told you not to go out!" She snaps at her.

"But mom! Let me explain…"

"No buts! I trusted you."

"You don't trust me at all! You don't trust my confidence as a ninja nor the decisions I chose to make!"

"Well your last _ninja decision_ almost killed you! We're going home."

Akane grabs her daughter's wrist and starts to pull her with her down the road. The two of them has to get home before something terrible happens. Her daughter tries to stop her but the ninja doesn't want to hurt her mother so she does it half heartily. She just doesn't walk.

"I can't live like this!" Akai exclaims loudly. "I rather die than being caged in that house! Don't you see?"

Akai groans in anger. She withdraws her wrist from Akane´s hold and takes some steps backwards. A sad expression grows on the pale girl as she starts to massage her sore wrist with her fingers. Akane´s eyes widen at her daughter's words and she turns around to face the young girl.

"What are you…?" Akane questions her in a surprised voice.

"She's saying that you hurt her more than her near death experience did." Neji tells her in a calm voice with hidden anger.

Neji´s simple statement hits Akane in the face like a punch. Her brown eyes narrow with surprise for a second before anger starts to boil inside of her. How dare this young man insult her like that? Doesn't Konoha ninja respect their elders at all? The fact that Neji is from a very well known and respected clan escapes her mind for a moment and she releases her anger at him.

"How dare you!"

Neji doesn't budge as she approaches him with an angry face. He continues to look at her in a face indifferent face with hidden irritation inside of him. This woman wants what's best for Akai but she's using the wrong methods without seeing the flaws of her plans.

"Neji… this is bad idea…" Lee whispers to his team mate.

Lee tries to stop his team mate from making the already tense situation worse but the glance he receives from Neji makes him withdraw the hand he put on the man's shoulder. Lee flinches when Naruto, who stands next to him, starts to talk.

"Akane-san." Naruto addresses her. "We have noticed Akai´s feelings but have you? Isn't it your fear of being left alone that makes you act this way? It's not the right way to handle that fear."

"You too…" Lee complains.

Lee thinks it would be best to not take part in the quarrel since it's a family problem but the others seems to disagree with him. Kiba steps back a little since he's used to family problems and his mother isn't someone you want to mess with. He shivers by the mere thought and hopes that Akane isn't as cruel as his mother.

"Naruto-kun?"

Akane recognises the Konoha ninja as the young injured man her daughter once brought home with her. His blue eyes are staring at her very intensively. _Who are these people? _She asks herself. _And why do they think they understand her daughter better than she, her mother does?_

"I'm only afraid of losing her, is that a bad thing?!" She exclaims in a loud voice.

"Mom, I'm glad that you're worried about me but you're treating me like if I'm made of glass! I won't break that easily, I survived didn't I?"

Akai yells in a voice near its breaking point. You can hear her sadness and pain through her voice and it's wavering with strong emotions. A red shade starts to get noticeable in her eyes as they begin to water with tears. Akai fights her pain as much as she can since she hates to cry in front of people, but the traces of tears doesn't fade. She doesn't dare to close her eyes because she believes that her tears would fall down if she did.

"Akai…honey I…"

"Okaa-san! E-everyone will die eventually and I won't rest in peace when I do i-if I haven't lived it as I wanted to. I can't fulfil my… goals like this so I need you to _let_ me _go_."

Akai´s feelings hits Akane in full force and her dark brown eyes widen as she starts to understand her daughter's pain. The wetness in Akai´s eyes isn't there because of the wound, she's about to cry because Akane made her. _Have I caused her so much pain and suffering?_ Her brown eyes return to their normal size and a tired expression grace her face.

"I understand…"Akane tells them hesitantly. "Akai can we talk more about this at home?"

"Uh…hai…" Akai answers in a surprised voice.

Akane starts to walk way in silence. Akai looks at her mother's back with a relieved expression, her words got through to her at last. A heavy burden takes flight from her shoulders and that constant feeling of stress fades. She uses her sleeve to wipe away the tears that were about to emerge. The albino girl turns around and gives her friends a sincere smile with gratitude and warmth.

Neji looks at her with a foreign emotion. He wants to hold her but can't and he decides to put his hand on her shoulder, as a way to say that everything will be okay from now on. That there's no need to shed tears any longer. Akai smiles up at him.

"Thank you, everyone." She turns to nod at her team mates and the rest of the Konoha ninja. "I guess…I´ll see you around a lot more from now on. Hopefully."

* * *

**The **Konoha squad returned to their inn for the night to regain energy. Yoshi and Kanaye walk together towards their special parting place. The grey horse follows Kanaye without complaining.

"I'm really glad that Akai found friends in Konoha. She has grown."

Kanaye comments what happened before with a relieved expression. He cares about his team mates even though he's labelled as a cold character. He always thought that Akai was alone when she wasn't on missions with them so the older man is content to see that there are so many people who care about her. It surely has made her self-esteem grow and the easy irritated woman he knew has matured.

"Hn." Is Yoshi´s sole answer.

"Yoshi? Is something the matter?"

"Why do everybody ask me that!?" Yoshi snaps with a pair of eyes glowing with irritation.

"…" Kanaye looks at him since he just answered his own question. "You're acting all jumpy, is it because of the war?"

"Yeah." He tells him a white lie. "You never know when they'll hit you…"

The two of them reaches their parting spot earlier than Kanaye had wished and they walk away from each other.

"I see, see you around then."

"Bye"

Yoshi is able to breathe out as Kanaye jumps up on Yuki and rides away. He knows that Kanaye is very sharp and intelligent person so his lie could have been seen if he stayed any longer. Yoshi is known as the Genin in his team but the truth is different; he's a spy. The man's abilities to sneak, disappear and hide were discovered by the Jounins instead of what he first wanted to be strength.

"Why does she have to be with them so much?" He mutters out loud to no one in particular.

Yoshi frowns. He's doing everything in his might to take Grass out of this situation but he knows that there'll be sacrifices. He just doesn't want Akai or Kanaye to be one of them. That's why he dislikes the way Akai talks with _them_, the foreign shinobi. He has during these last days noticed how happy his female team mate acts around the foreigners and it's now a fact that she'll get hurt if they die. She will try to cover them if they get hurt…

Everything turned troublesome when the Konoha backup team arrived. Yoshi had it planed out; the Sound army would arrive, a small battle would take place and Yamamoto-sama would have given the snake the scroll he wants. There wouldn't have been this much damage if Grass didn't put up a fight. Why should Grass keep a scroll about a criminal they can't beat? Wouldn't it be better if Orochimaru got it and killed the monster for them? Yoshi shivers as he recalls one of those times he actually saw Zetsu.

The man that has two personalities, or literally two persons in one body, isn't someone Yoshi admires. The cannibal is a threat to the shinobi society so why does everyone has to obey Yamamoto´s orders to protect what's left of him? Why should so many people die because of one person who betrayed Grass years ago? Yoshi hates the way the war is turning out in the same time as he fears how his commissioner will act when he hears the news he found out earlier.

Yoshi left his home quite early to go on one of his information hunts and found something interesting fast. He saw the Konoha squad leader leave Yamamoto´s office building together with some Grass jounin he knows of. The green-haired spy hid near the roof of the building using his chakra to stay there. The men were discussing how they should counter attack Sound.

Yoshi sighs deeply as he runs his fingers through his hair. _I'm in a mess…helping the enemy to save the village? Huh, I sound like a saint… not. But orders are orders. _He is giving bot Yamamoto and Orochimaru information at the same time and Yoshi can't help but feel stressed over this double mission. The snake is dangerous beyond his imagination and one wrong step could lead to his death. It is in these situations Yoshi wishes that he were stronger and less flexible.

Yoshi returns home and eats dinner with his family. He walks up to his room and locks the door behind his back. He gets naked and puts on his black set of spy clothes; a pair of tight pants, a shirt and cloth to cover his whole head except his eyes. No one will be able to spot him in the darkness. Yoshi is confident about his skills as a spy but makes sure that his pockets are full with shuriken and kunai. You just never know in the company of Sound shinobi.

Yoshi exits his room by the window and hides his chakra as he becomes one with the darkness outside. He avoids the torches and makes his way towards the bamboo forest. It's easy for him to track down the Sound troops because their chakra is huge and easy to see. It doesn't take long before he meets up with a familiar face.

"Oh chibi-chan." Kim Jeong greets the spy with a grin. "Long time no see."

"Hn, take me to Orochimaru-sama." Yoshi addresses the snake in a way he never should have done in the presence of a Grass shinobi.

"Hai hai, follow me."

Yoshi follows the Korean man in silence and he prepares himself to flee if something sudden and unexpected happens. Yoshi is quite good at running away if you can see that as a skill that is. He sweat drops at his own thought before he turns serious when he feels how Kim Jeong smirks at his tenseness.

"Scared?"

"Certainly not."

"Heee?"

The Korean guides him deeper into the forest and Yoshi comes face to face with Uchiha Sasuke. The legendary Uchiha spares him one indifferent stare before looking away with his arms crossed over his chest. _This is the guy who almost killed…Akai…_Yoshi frowns under his mask of dark cloth. A strange feeling starts to grow inside of his chest as he stares at the enigma's profile. A feeling Yoshi dislikes.

"Orochimaru-sama, the Grass spy has arrived." Kim Jeong says in a voice full of respect.

"Ssstep forward." Orochimaru demands him from the shadows.

Yoshi falls down on his knees and bows respectfully to the Sound leader. The Grass ninja doesn't know if his respect for the snake was born out of his towards the man but so he believes.

"What information does you have for me today?"

"They're planning to attack in four days."

Yoshi looks up from the ground and meets the yellow eyes of the snake. His pale skin looks like the skin of a corpse in the darkness but his eyes shine with life, or something else.

"Good." Orochimaru answers in a very contented voice, too contented for Yoshi´s liking.

"Is there ssssome tactics I ssshould know about?"

"The memebers in the Konoha squad will lead a of Grass shinobi each and attack from all the directions."

"The Konoha team?" Sasuke repeats.

"Now is the time to finish that Kyuubi off, great chance Uchiha." Kim Jeong smirks

"Hn…" Sasuke stares at something in the distance.

Yoshi frowns, this is exactly what he feared. They aren't only after the scroll but also to harm the Konoha team and…everyone else. The unpleasant feeling in within his chest grows tenfold at the realisation. Even though he plays double spy to aid his friends and love ones does he only see pain and disaster in the future battle.

"Why should we trust him when he's betraying his village and…friends?" Kabuto changes the subject.

"I'm doing what's best for my village!" Yoshi snaps at them. _Oh no…I shouldn't act on an impulse... _

"By betraying them?" Kabuto doubts him.

"How can we trussst him?" Orochimaru repeats. "Let's give him a little tesssst. Bring me the scroll before the attack and we'll…leave your precious village."

Yoshi´s mind starts to work over time as he hears about the little test. He can't do that since he's originally a spy of Grass but he would really love to give them that forsaken scroll. And even if he gave them the scroll would the stop the killings? _I don't think so, these guys doesn't play a fair game. _

"Really?" He questions them in a fake happy voice. _That's so not true._

"You have my word." Orochimaru answers him confidently.

"Then, I´ll take my leave."

Yoshi disappears in a cloud of grass strands and the grass falls the ground, creating a circle in the darkness. The Sound ninja waits for orochimaru´s orders when Sasuke breaks the silence with a snort.

"Are you serious?" Sasuke demands to know in a quite rude voice. "Or are you going to take care of him either way?"

Kabuto, Kim Jeong and Sasuke look at their leader in silence. The pale, white snake smirks while he leans into the palm of his hand. His long pitch black hair falls down over his shoulders.

"Heheh…" Orochimary chuckles. "Let's see about that."

* * *

**Tsunade **taps her fingers against her desk in a very annoyed and irritated manner. The blonde woman looks pissed. Three young Jounin suddenly appeared in her room and the surprise made her drop the glass of sake she was holding. The liquid is now on the floor with shart glass pieces.

"What's wrong?" She asks the men in an angry manner.

One of the men hesitates as he sees her expression but decided to tell her the news. His two comrades start to clean up the mess so they won't face the Hokage´s fury afterwards.

"The dove we sent to Grass has returned!" The Jounin reports her. "But… it's badly damaged."

"It was attacked?" Shizune asks.

The Hokage´s assistant aids the men with the glass but her expression changes into her shinobi mood when she hears about the injured animal. It´s never a good sign when doves return while being injured.

"Yes and the letter is still there which means…"

"That it didn't reach Shikamaru." Tsunade finishes the jounin´s sentence. "It looks like the situation is worse than I first expected."

"What should we do?" Sakura asks her sensei. "This must mean that Sound has somehow cut of Grass´s…."

"Exactly."

"I need you to prepare a new dove for me. I´ll inform the Kazekage about this and as for his help during the time I want Kakashi, Yamato, Sai and Sakura to go and find out about the situation over there."

"Hai, I´ll gather them!" Sakura exclaims and is about to dash out of the office.

"Sakura, make sure not to get involved in battles before the rest of the back up arrives. We can't afford any more failures."

"Understood!"

"Is it really wise to involve the Sand too? If this continues a greater war will come." Shizune ponders out loud.

Tsunade prepares a new letter and uses black ink to write. Her beautiful Japanese signs looks rushed but she pays no attention to them as she finishes it and puts it into the holder of a new dove. One on the Jounin takes the dove and heads towards the roof to set it free. Shizune stares at the Hokage until she finally decided to explain.

"The war will continue if we sit and do nothing. It's best to hit them hard. I know that Sound is strong but no country can stand tall against the forces of three."

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**AN; I hope you liked it! I really want to see Gaara in Grass but it´s maybe too risky for the kazekage to leave sand? hum... **

**what do you think? R&R**

**I might not be able to update often since school starts again tomorrow. I´ll do my best though. **


	23. Chapter 23

**AN; update! Sorry AGAIN for the very late update. I can only blame school. I started writing this again when I heard the song "wedding Dress" by Teayang, if you like asian musc try it. It´s so beautiful. Anyway, back to the story. **

**btw, thank you all who reviewed! **

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**The **tense silence isn't very comforting and Akai is for once happy that she can't see her family members´ faces. The only light in the room is a lit candle on the table and the light colour Akai, Akane and Aoi´s faces yellow. Gosai´s soft snoring can be heard from his room and the sound makes Akai relax somewhat, the calming rhythm of his breathing calm down her beating heart.

"Akai…" Akane murmurs as if she's unsure about how to start the conversation.

"Okaa-san I'm sure that you…understand that I didn't mean to hurt you by running away today…" Akai starts. "I wanted to meet with my friends, that's all."

"But you escaped through your window, why didn't you ask if you could…?"

"Because you would have said no." Akai tells her flatly.

"Akai…" Akane complains.

Akai frowns deeply and prepares herself for an outburst of emotion but her brother jumps in suddely.

"Okaa-san, I think you should listen to what she wants to say." Aoi is suddenly on Akai´s side.

Akai gives him a grateful nod before she stares at her mother in silence. The bad light and her bad eyesight makes it impossible for her to actually see the woman but the blurry silhouette is familiar. The albino girl takes a deep breath before she starts to explain how she feels.

"You see I really appreciate the way you want to protect me but it's too much, it's suffocating me." Akai explains. "I want to live a normal life and I can't do that if you won't allow me to do things others do; like… a mission… or something."

Akane looks at her in silence while she's trying to grasp what her daughter just said to her.

"But your bad eyesight…"

"I've seen this way since I was born and I'm used to it. It doesn't slow me down much anymore." Is Akai´s response.

"But you almost died…"Akane didn't like her daughters response at all.

"I faced a very strong opponent, anyone could have ended up like me. It's the way of the ninja, mom."

"What if I said I don't want my only daughter to be a ninja?"

"This was my choice and dad accepted it." Akai tells her with no room for complaints.

Akane opens her mouth as if she's about to complain, but closes it again and looks away. A deep silence fills the room and the only sound is their breathing. Akai focuses on her mother will all of her senses as she closes her eyes in her wait for a response. The response she get isn´t what she expected though.

"That Hyuuga…what is your relationship with him?" Akane changes subject abruptly.

Akai flinches by the question and Aoi´s calm expression turns into a deep frown. The Jounin turns his attention to his little sister and waits for her explanation in a very unpleasant silence.

"Eh.? I…" Akai stutters.

A deep red blush starts to grow on her pale cheeks and the fact that she has no pigment to hide the blush doesn't help her. She gets red as a tomato. _Neji…_ Akai swallows her saliva. During the short period of time she spent with the stoic Hyuuga in Konoha has made her realises that he´s indeed important to her. He's one of the few that sees her and not her albinism, her strength instead of her visible handicap and who doesn't piss her off in anyway. The extreme fluttering in her chest and stomach that has bothered her for a while tells her that she likes him more than a friend should and she has started to accept that.

"I like him." Akai confesses while looking away shyly.

"But he's a Hyuuga…" Aoi starts to complain in a bitter voice.

"What's wrong with that?" Akai gets defensive and turns to her brother.

Aoi looks her straight in the eye with a very serious expression on his face.

"Don't take this wrong now but the Hyuuga clan is living in another world than us, Akai. They've a lot of power, a strong kekkei genkai and strict rules… do you really want a guy like that?"

Akai opens her mouth to say something but decides not to. She's aware of their status differences and that Hyuuga Hiashi already dislikes her so she feels even more down when Aoi explains it to her.

"You don't know Neji…he's different from the others." She whispers.

"But he can't disobey the clan right?" Aoi counters. "It's the same thing."

_The cursed mark…_

"What you're really is saying is _how in the world can a guy like a Hyuuga accept my sister _right?" Akai attacks him verbally with a upset voice.

"Don't assume anything here!"

"But it's true since you don't deny it!"

"Akai, listen." Aoi inhales deeply. "The question isn't if you're worthy his love, or the other way around. It's if he truly loves you, I don't want to see you get hurt because of a guy like him. Did he tell you he loves you?"

"…"

Akai is speechless and looks at her brother with a lost expression. Sure, she's very certain of her own feelings but what about her love interest? What if Neji doesn't like her back? The happiness of finally loving someone who's not a jerk leaves her immediately and a dark cloud makes its appearance over her head.

"I think it's a good idea!" Akane exclaims suddenly, interrupting the siblings quarrel.

"Mum?" Akai murmurs in a rather depressed voice.

"If Akai found someone she likes then I think she should go for it." She smiles sadly. "And if you married Hyuuga-san and moved to Konoha you would never had to face bullying again, nor this poverty!"

"Mom! Don't get too excited!" Akai gets even redder. "He hasn't proposed or anything…and I thought you disliked him."

"Well he acted rather rudely towards me but I can somehow, after talking with you, understand the reasons behind that act."

Akane smiles as she runs her fingers though Akai´s hair slowly, which the girl slowly leans into.

"Don't take this personal my dear but I never thought you would let yourself fall in love. So I want to support you."

"…Do you support my ninja way too?"

"I´ll try, but only if you're completely honest with me. Don't ever run away again!"

"I promise."

* * *

**Yoshi **can't help but let his emotions take over when he heads over to the Grass leader Yamamoto´s office. He has really bad news to share and prepares himself to meet fury when he tells the man.

"Come in, Yoshi-san." Yamamoto welcomes him with a strict smile. "What news do you have?"

Yoshi falls down on his knee before his leader and starts to speak with a pair of golden eyes that never leaves Yamamoto´s. He's about to speak when a familiar voice utters his name with surprise.

"Yoshi-san?"

This makes the spy look up and see how the lazy-looking Nara Shikamaru stands leaning against the wall next to the guards in the office. . A strange feeling enters Yoshi and he feels like Shikamaru sees him naked is some way.

"Nara…"He murmurs.

"You two know each other?"

"You can say that, yes." Shikamaru nods.

Yoshi looks down at the floor as he prepares himself to speak. The fact that Nara Shikamaru, one of Akai´s Konoha friends, knows of his work as a spy bothers him since his two team mates doesn't have a clue about it. Yoshi takes a deep breath.

"The Sound ninja are doubting my loyalty, sir."

Yamamoto´s expression changes into a sterner one as he hears this. The old man leans back in his chair as he takes a sip of his warm drink. He massages his temples.

"That ain't good, did you do anything to give them a reason to think so?"

"No, but being regarded as a traitor gives me a bad status amount them. They want me to hand the scroll over as a token of my loyalty."

"…That won't do."

"They say that they'll stop the raid if I give it to them before the fourth day."

Yoshi´s voice tells the people in the room that he clearly wants Yamamoto to hand Sound the scroll so there won't be any further causalities. Even though he knows that it probably won't work that way, Yoshi holds on to the thought in a naïve way. The green-haired spy looks at Yamamoto with a pair of pleading eyes.

"I know how Orochimaru works." Shikamaru interrupts them. "He isn't a man who keeps his word and will surely attack Grass with or without the scroll."

"Things won't go that smoothly…"Yamamoto turns to Yoshi. "There's no time for your naivety in this war."

"…"

Yoshi stays silent as he fights to swallow his true feelings about the matter. He can't understand why Yamamoto has to choose the hard way to win this war when they might do so without risks. That scroll, with the backgrounds of a wanted s-criminal, is it so important to keep away from the enemy's grasp? Yoshi stares at the floor. _Is that Zetsu´s past so damn important in this situation? Isn't it just Yamamoto´s guilt for what happened bacck then that…? _The spy can't ignore his doubt any longer.

"Is that scroll so important? So important that you can risk the village to keep it safe!?" He asks them in a loud, frustrated voice.

"Yoshie!!" Yamamoto roars angrily.

Golden eyes narrow for a moment before they return to their normal size as Yoshi calms down. The small man is quick to bow with his head close to the floor.

"Sorry, sir. I should know my place." Is his apology.

"Hn, what do you suggest Shikamaru-san?"

Yamamoto glares at Yoshi´s disgraced form before he turns to seek Shikamaru´s advice. The lazy genius looks at Yoshi in silence for a moment before he really starts to listen to what the leader of Grass is asking him.

"It would be a good move to attack them before that fourth, when they least expects it."

"I agree." Yamamoto nods." We'll attack in two days. Prepare yourself young Yoshi."

"Yes, Yamamoto-sama." Yoshi looks up from his bowing position.

"And remember that if we die in this battle we died with honour."

"…Hai." _What honour? People who die in vain is what you call honour?_

"You're dismissed."

Yoshi is quick to get up on his feet and leave the office. The wind makes his green hair flutter as he nearly runs down the stairs to reach the bottom of the building; he doesn't want to stay there longer than necessary.

"Yoshi-san!"

Yoshi doesn't have to look over his shoulder to understand who's calling his name. It's Shikamaru. The taller man approaches him and they walk side by side down the stairs.

"If you dare to tell anyone about what saw today I´ll…" Yoshi threatens him.

"I won't tell." Shikamaru is quick to assure him about that.

"So if you don't want to blackmail me, why are you here?"

Shikamaru shows that he's bothered by Yoshi´s behaviour and sighs deeply before he starts to talk again.

"I want to tell you that Konoha will help you. Together we'll make the number of deaths lesser."

"You seem confident."

"I'm always confident about my tactics." Is Shikamaru´s reply. "Let's go and inform the others about this."

"…Yeah."

* * *

**Shikamaru **and Yoshi find the foreign team of ninja eating lunch around the campfire together. Lee is preparing the soup that´s boiling over the fire and he hands up the portions to each member of the team. The chef faces Shikamaru with a smile and offers the strategist some soup.

"Oh Shikamaru! We saved some soup for you." Naruto tells him with a smirk. "Hi Yoshi-san."

"Konnichi wa." Yoshi greets them formally

Shikamaru accepts the soup and joins them by the fire, Yoshi follows his example a little hesitantly. Kiba watches Shikamaru with interest since he's very thrilled about what the man has to say and his feelings had influenced Akamaru who lies down and moves his tail back and forth. The lazu Jounin smirks at the scene before he starts to share the information he got at the office.

"We'll attack the Sound in two days, I need you to be in your best shape by then."

"…So soon?" Naruto murmurs.

"Finally, I've been waiting for this!" Kiba smiles broadly "What's wrong with you, Naruto?"

"I didn't realise I would face Sasuke so soon." Is his honest reply.

Kiba´s smirk fades from his lips as he sees how sad Naruto is. The blonde man has prepared himself for their meeting for a long time only to be disappointed by what he saw. Maybe Naruto is naive to think that he still can save Sasuke, who knows, but it hurts him badly. The fact that his former team mate almost killed his friend isn't something Naruto wants but has to accept.

"Sasuke will be troublesome but the two new guys won't die easily either." Shikamaru informs them.

"No they're really powerful." Yoshi agrees while recalling his match against one of them.

"Just remember that our goal is to capture Sasuke but we have to protect the village at the same time. We can't afford to be careless."

Shikamaru looks at them and sees how the quiet Hyuuga nods from the corner of his eye. The stoic man seems to have a lot on his mind and stays out of the conversation. Neji eats in silence but he can't enjoy his meal. Thoughts from yesterday haunt his mind and a strange feeling of guilt squeezes his heart. He can't stop thinking about Akai and her pain and it's making him feel so helpless and weak.

The argument they had before she left Konoha lingers in his mind and Neji blames himself for the condition she's in. What would have happened if he treated her the same way after Hiashi´s warning and didn't let his emotions hinder him? Dark brown hair falls down and hides his face as he stares down at the soup while he actually sees nothing. It was his fault that she rushed to Grass so carelessly and now when they meet again he can't win over his pride and tell her why he was so cold towards her. Neji frowns and squeezes the bowl in his hand with a force that creates circles in the liquid inside. _Why didn't I say something…? _He inhales deeply._ Instead I asked her to open up her heart to me again without giving anything in return._ Hiashi´s words echoes inside of him, feeding the emotional turmoil that threatens to devour him without mercy.

"What should we do about Akai-san?" Lee questions all of a sudden.

That question captures the Hyuuga´s focus and he flinches out of his thoughts. A pair of silver eyes turns to focus on his team mate and friend.

"What do you mean?" Neji asks him warily.

Shikamaru turns to look at Neji since he's surprised over that the man spoke but mentally scolds himself for not knowing better. He knows that Neji has a soft spot for Isozaki but doesn't dare to believe that she's the reason why he's so jumpy. Lee meets Neji´s gaze.

"Should we tell her about this? I'm afraid that she would rush into the battle in her…injured state." Lee explains what he means. "We can't let that happen."

"Hiding it from her will only hurt her." Yoshi argues. "She'll have to accept the fact that's she's too weak to take part."

Neji´s eyebrows twitch at this but he stays silent. A mental picture of a grimacing Akai makes itself known as he repeats the words _too weak_ in his mind. Akai would never take that in a good way even though she probably would understand that it's true and Neji knows that she won't like the fact that she can't battle. As much as he wants to fight along side her again he wants to protect her and the best way to do that is to keep her from fighting; both will hurt her. _Why can't I do anything by hurt her? _Neji grits his teeth.

"I´ll talk to her." Yoshi adds. "And inform Kanaye."

"Yeah, I leave that to you." Shikamaru nods. "We have to make preparations guys."

"Roger!" Lee nods with a faint smile.

"Naruto I need to talk with you…"

Shikamaru moves to Naruto and the two of them moves away to talk about Sasuke and how Naruto should act.

* * *

**Dark **shadows moves gracefully from tree to tree as they travel towards the boarders of Konoha. The skilled shinobi progresses quickly but are forced to stop when they become surrounded by foreign chakra.

"Sai." Kakashi commands.

"Understood!"

The young man takes forth his scroll and starts to draw an eagle that he uses to fly up above the trees and get a better view of the situation. The darkness hides him well as he soars through the sky while regarding the many men that guard the line between the two countries. Their number makes Sai´s eyes narrow as he understand what disadvantage the small Grass village, and his own squad, is in. The cold wind creates goose bumps on his bare stomach as he steers the eagle towards the ground again. Sai jumps of and the ink disappears.

"The boarder is blocked and packed with shinobi. We can't proceed without getting noticed."

"This is worse than I thought…"Yamamoto murmurs. "Inform Tsunade-sama."

"Yes."

Sai obeys and uses his ink jutsu to create a mouse that runs back towards the village with a little text message on its back.

"We can't even get close to Grass like this…" Sakura complains.

"Don't get too frustrated now Sakaura." Kakashi comments.

"But sensei, what can we do now?"

"Wait for new orders and possible back up."

"But that will take days!"

"Let's trust Naruto." Sai suddenly tells them.

"That ramen loving ninja will pull it off somehow." Yamato agrees. "We'll join him when we can."

"Gee…" Sakura pouts.

What the Konoha ninja doesn't know is that a new wave of back up is already on the way towards them. Ino, together with Chouji, Shino, Hinata, Tenten and Gai joined up with a squad from Suna and are on their way. Gaara, who couldn't leave his position as the Kazekage, sent Kankuro and Temari together with Matsuri and a number of other ninja to their aid.

A great war is on the rise.

* * *

**Akai **notices that something has happened the moment her ears pick up the sound of Yoshi on the doorstep downstairs. The Genin of her team does seldom visit her in her home but it´s not that sign that alerts her of a sudden change, it's the golden eyed man's quick breathing and nervous posture. The albino girl makes her way down the stairs when Gosai announces that she has a visitor.

"Yoshie…"

"Akai." Yoshi greets her with a smile. "I've something important to tell you. Let's take a walk."

"…Alright." _He's sure acting strangely._

"Onee-chan, when will you back?"

"I´ll bring your sister back in an hour." Yoshi pats Gosai´s head gently.

"Okay…"

Akai puts on her sandals and a jacket before she joins Yoshi. The two of them walks down the road in a steady peace in silence while Yoshi prepares himself. Akai gives him the time he needs since all her senses tells her it's not something easy he'll tell her.

"How are you? Is the svar healing nicely?"

"I'm …fine." Akai is quick to understand that this wasn't Yoshi´s main question but answers anyway. "It's healing but I´ll always have a scar I guess."

"Oh…" Yoshi smirks. "Your first real battle scar."

"Haha yeah."

"How did it go, After Akane-sensei found you? She looked really angry."

"Well we talked and I told her to let me go, kinda." Akai tells him while facing the sky full off stars. "She said she would try to not be such a mother hen in the future."

"That's great."

"So you'll be out on missions soon, right?"

"The doctors said that it'll take some time before I'm healthy enough to take on missions and heavier training… but the wait will be worth it."

"I wanted to talk about that with you."

Akai tenses since the tone Yoshi uses alarms her about that the main problem will be brought up now. She prepares herself for anything from Yoshi confessing that he's gay to an attack from outer space, the later is in this case more realistic.

"Oh?" She urges him to continue.

"Grass will attack Sound in two days from now and we think…it would be best if you didn't take part."

The news hits Akai in the face like a punch even though she knows about Grass situation at the moment. It isn't the fact that they're going to attack Sound that surprises her, it's the part where Yoshi tells her not to fight. A cold feeling takes a hold of heart and squeezes slowly, painfully, as she starts to ponder about the reason behind it.

"…." Akai is silent but when she voices her question, she sounds bitter. "Who is _we_?"

"I and the Konoha squad." Yoshi answers with caution.

Akai looks at him with a blank expression before she looks away. Yoshi waits for her outburst of anger and grows tenser for each passing second of the silence but sighs as she doesn't speak for a while. The girl seems to be lost in her own thoughts as they pass by one of their usual training spots. Two golden eyes notice how a hand reaches up to touch the place where she was pierced by the katana.

"…I understand. I won't fight." She answers in a quiet whisper.

"…Really?" Yoshi can't believe his ears. _She doesn't argue?_

A deep sigh leaves her pale lips and creates a small cloud of fog in the cold air.

"Yeah, an injured kunoichi would only be a hindrance right?"

"Don't say it like that. We just… don't want you to get hurt again." He explains.

"Yeah, yeah." Akai chuckles in a disappointed manner. "But promise me Yoshi, that you give that jerk Sasuke a black eye in my stead."

"Yeah, I surely will." He smiles.

"…I´ll only fight it the situation forces me to. In self defence or to protect my family and the villages." Is her only condition.

"It's a deal."

Akai locks the door behind her back as she steps into her home after the walk. Voices from the kitchen capture her attention and the extra pair of sandals in the hall tells her that her bigger brother is visiting. _The news must have reached him too._ Akai frowns as she masks her inner emotions once again. Akane and Aoi´s loud discussion grows silent as she enters the room. Aoi fumbles with his words for a moment.

"I'm going to war in two days." Aoi tells her seriously.

That sentence makes her mother turn and look at her as if she's afraid of that Akai would throw herself out the window and fight right at that moment. Akai forces a smile to her lips and nods slowly.

"I know."

Both Aoi and Akane look at Akai with confused expressions since they expected something bigger from her. Aoi is silent as she approaches him and puts her arms around his waist in a gentle hug.

"Be sure to get back alive, onii-san." Akai whispers sadly.

Aoi puts his arms around her carefully and returns the hug. It was ages since the two of them shared a hug like this and the act took him by surprise but he can't help but appreciate it.

"I´ll do my best." Aoi answers since he can't promise anything else.

Akai creates a distance between them.

"I´ll go to bed now, I'm exhausted."

Tears break her pokerface when Akai turns around to head to her room, she can't stop them. The kunoichi acts like nothing is wrong until she reaches her room and locks out the outside world. Her blurry eyes are full of tears and she touches her wet cheeks with a pair of shaky hands.

"W-why does it…hurt so much?" She asks herself in a broken voice. "I'm once again…u-useless…"

Akai takes of her clothes in a silence that is only broken by her sobs and crawls into bed. Her heart aches really badly the fact that she tries to swallow her pain makes it worse. It becomes hard to breathe and every breath sends a jolt of pan down her now dry throat. Long fingers touch the outlines of the scar on her stomach and each stitch makes her feel so much weaker than she is.

"…." Akai gasps. "I'm such an idiot. B-baka, baka. Baka, baka!"

* * *

**AN; the end of chapter! I hope you liked it. Please comment on everything so I can continue writing and become better. I seriously need feedback right now. Anything from what I did wrong, did good and your thoughts... **

**R&R**

**Have a very nice Christmas everyone, and a happy new year!!  
**


	24. Chapter 24

**AN; thanks to Kmz who gave me a really long review! I really pondered about what you said, thanks, you kept me on track here! I guess I've to explain my characters´ feelings a little better in this chapter! I got rusty due to not writing this story…. Hahah … excuses, excuses. **

**Anyway, enjoy chapter 24!

* * *

**

**Two **days passed and the streets of the almost demolished Grass are full of men who will take part in the ninja army. Their families stays at home since if everyone attended the Sound would surely sense that something is wrong but a few villagers are brave enough to give the warriors a good bye.

A pair of silver eyes widen as he regards the girl that has been on his mind a lot lately. She stands there, together with her mother and little brother, with a calm expression on her pale face as the wind plays with her white blonde hair. Akai is dressed in a simple light green yukata that both hides and compliments her curves and makes her look so different from what Neji is used to. The picture would have been perfect if he couldn't see the signs of sadness and anger behind her polite indifference. She doesn't look at him at all and that makes him uneasy.

Yoshi told everyone that Akai took the suggestion without a struggle and Neji forced himself to believe that she really accepted it without feeling hurt. Seeing her now tells him the opposite. She's so angry inside but uses a mask to not let anyone notice but he, who has Byakugan and splendid sight, can see all the signs. Her tense posture, her facial expression and the fact that she keeps her hand over her injured stomach.

Neji, who blames himself for her pain, but after more meditation to regain his inner calm he understood that he's not the major source of it. His eyes darken as he recalls when Tsunade told them that they couldn't rush into war that quickly. The Hyuuga understands his Hokage but also how that hearing it like that must have felt like a betrayal for Akai who was in Konoha for months to get those alliance papers signed. He could have stopped her when she ran away, telling her his true thoughts instead of what he said but…it was _Sasuke_ who hurt her physically.

_It was __**Sasuke.**_

Neji glances at Naruto who stands by his side in silence. The shorter boy seem somewhat depressed and the Hyuuga knows the reason; Uchiha. The sharingan wielder has done nothing but hurting people before and after his betrayal. Sakura was broken when he left, Naruto is still suffering from it severely and now Akai. Neji frowns and his calm expression turns somewhat ugly, God knows how many more he has hurt during his stay at Orochimaru´s side. Neji can't understand how Naruto still can think about rescuing Sasuke after all he has done to them. All Neji wants is to fight him and do some heavy damage before giving him to Ibiki where a painful punishment, maybe even death, is waiting for the Uchiha prodigy. He wouldn't mind if the Sharingan were lost because all they have done is to bring Konoha trouble. A deep breath leaves him as he closes his eyes and covers his anger with indifference while he tries to swallow his emotions. He can't go to war with them affecting him and bringing him down.

His eyes move to Akai once again.

* * *

"**Aoi,** be careful." Akane tells her son.

"You worry too much." Aoi smirks. "Akai, take care of them for me will you?"

"No problem." She forces a smile to her lips.

Aoi gives Gosai a quick hug before he turns to leave. The rest of the Isozaki family watches his back with mixed emotions on their faces. Akane looks worried, Gosai is close to tears while Akai looks cool and collected, well her interior emotions are the opposite. Akane can't lie and say that she's okay with her son leaving to fight but she has to swallow her fear of losing him since she can't force him to stay with her. Her worst nightmare it to lose someone again, just like she lost her husband and that makes her heart hurt. The doctor's eyes looks tired as she watches the army and she chooses to turn her gaze to something else.

Akane regards her daughter with caution since a feeling tells her that it's possible that Akai will rush over to her friends and join the squad. Akai has acted strangely calm since they got to know about the attack and she's afraid that she'll explode. Her daughter's blurry blue eyes are wide open but she knows that she sees nothing but a crowd of people hidden by a thick mist.

Akane´s eyes travel to the man Akai said she loves, the tall white-eyed Hyuuga. He looks so cold and tense as he stands there in silence and the scene makes her wonder if he would be a good man for Akai. She has seen them together and they looked happy but the moment when he snapped at her still lingers in her mind. Akane can't accept a possible husband who has no respect for her or the Isozaki family and the fact that Aoi dislikes him makes that somewhat clearer. Akane has still no idea who this Hyuuga Neji is; the amazing man Akai talks about or the cold, indifferent person she sees in front of her. A frown makes the woman look older than her actual age. The Hyuuga looks upset in her opinion and that expression on his face could scare anyone and another question enters her. Would it be good for Akai to marry a man with that power and status as a Hyuuga rather than a regular villager that would offer her a peaceful life without ninja duties?

"Akai-chan!"

A loud voice interrupts Akane´s thoughts and her focus turns to a familiar blonde who approaches them slowly.

"…Naruto." Akai murmurs.

"Akane-sensei, good day."

Akane smiles gently at the young man.

"You're looking great." Naruto comments, referring to Akai´s yukata.

An irritated smirk appears on Akai´s pale lips and her blue eyes dart to her mother for a second before she replies. Akane returns the grimace with a confused smile.

"_It's proper etiquette to dress up when the men go to war_, that was what my mother said."

Akane´s smile turns into a frown.

"Hahahaha." Naruto chuckles half heartily.

"Sorry but I can't say that you're looking good Naruto."

Akai smiles sadly as she touches her friend's face in a gentle way. Naruto stops forcing himself to laugh and his blue eyes focus on her. She has been so absorbed in her own pain and frustration so she didn't really pay attention to other's feelings until now. Naruto, who was the first foreign friend she made, is hurting and she should have noticed it earlier.

"I know this must be hard for you." Akai whispers.

Naruto smiles weakly but Akai know it's a true smile of appreciation. She can see how a pair of blurry eyes focuses on her and she lower her hand.

"Yeah." Naruto admits in a tired whisper.

"Take the moments as they come and act the way your heart tells you, that way you won't feel regret." Akai tells him even though she knows it's easier said than done. _That's why I feel this way now, because I'm forced to neglect what my heart tells me to do. _Akai thinks bitterly.

"Thank you." Naruto smiles sadly." Come here."

"Eh?" Akai questions him as he starts to pull her with him.

"I´ll borrow your daughter for a whine, ne, Akane-sensei?"

"Sure."

Akai follows Naruto in a deep silence while she for a while wonders what the man wants her for. She tenses as she notices how they approach several familiar chakra and she understands that Naruto has taken her to the Konoha team.

"We can't go to battle without saying goodbye right?" Naruto tells her with a smile.

"Yeah…I guess." Akai murmurs, forcing a smile.

Akai knows that she can't dislike them for not wanting her in their team for this battle since they probably think leaving her out means that she's protected. Her mind can't help but wonder who suggested it, who didn't want her in the team, while she at the same time tries to ignore it. She is able to smile a true smile when Kanaye put his hand on her shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Eh where is Yoshi?" She asks him when she can't find her other team mate´s chakra.

"Yamamoto wanted his presence somewhere else." Shikamaru tells her.

Shikamaru tells her a white lie and is relived when Akai doesn't ask more about the matter. Yoshi is in this moment together with the Sound army acting as a spy for the last time. The lazy ninja can't really understand how the small and impulsive Yoshi can mange a serious job like that and figures that the reason must be that he's a different person there. Sound would have noticed otherwise since they're way too smart to be tricked by a half-hearted act.

"I see." Is Akai´s answer. _I wonder what kind of special mission he got? _She wonders with a hint of jealousy. "Are you guys prepared for battle?"

"Yeah, as prepared as you can be." Kiba answers with a smirk. "Akamaru and I will own the battlefield."

"Can I take that as a challenge?" Lee questions him with a friendly smile.

"Oh no bushy brow, you have no chance…" Kiba jokes with his senpai.

Akai doesn't know what kind of influence they have with her but their simple jokes makes her smile grow. She can't dislike them but that doesn't change the fact that she dislikes her own weakened state. It's not their fault that Akai feels this much regret, it's the fact that she let herself get hurt this badly in the first place. No matter how much she wants to take their place she doesn't want them to go through the pain she felt. Akai turns to Neji for the first time and hopes that he can read her since she doesn't want to get too emotional with him right now.

"Be careful."

She can hear how the Hyuuga inhales deeply before he replies in a deep voice.

"I will." It sounds like a burden left his shoulders.

Akai gets no time to think about what that burden could have been since a loud voice echoes around them.

"It's time to leave!" A man yells at the top of his lungs. "Get into your positions!"

"Fight hard and don't give up no matter what happens, ok?" Akai tells them. "I´ll wait for you here, when you get back."

"Sounds troublesome but see you when we get back." Shikamaru replies with a lazy smirk.

"Take care Akai!" Kiba waves as he starts to walk away.

"I´ll make sure that they'll make it out ok." Kanaye tells Akai.

* * *

**Akai** stands there while listening to the army's steps as they slowly disappear into the bamboo forest. She wants to join them so badly. Her body is twitching due to the desire to run after them and the young woman bites her lower lip in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Akai let's head home."

"I need to be alone now, mother." Akai tells her in a cold voice.

Akai doesn't wait for her mother's response before she runs away not knowing where her feet will lead her. Her sensitive hearing notices that Akane yells her name but Akai decides to ignore it and keep on running.

Akai can't believe that she was able to hold her emotions inside of her that long and especially in front of the army she so would have wanted to join. The tears that left her two days ago made her dry and instead of sadness a strong anger emerge from her chakra pores. Her feet take her deeper into the forest and she finds herself at one of her favourite, private training spots. Akai starts to train in silence.

She blames herself for being in this state since she acted carelessly and faced a way too strong opponent by herself but that doesn't change the fact that her friends doesn't want her to fight. Akai is aware of her injury, of her handicap and the enemy's power and that she surely won't stand a chance against them but she can't help but take it somewhat personal when Yoshi said that he and the Konoha team had decided to not let her go. That _hurt._ She thought that they would be the one to oppose her family and village to help her get a chance to show her true self in this battle. _I guess I was wrong, so wrong!_ Akai knows that they want to protect her but she has been protected all her life and wants to see a change. _I can't hate them for it but God, it hurts!_

Akai starts to punch a nearby tree so she can release some steam. She wants to hit someone so badly, see how he or she grimaces in pain caused by her or run until her body collapses. First she faints when she was on her way back to help Grass, ending up unconscious at the hospital and missing the battle that almost destroyed her home and now, they won't even let her try protect it. _Will I get another chance to prove myself to them? To actually be a real ninja…? _Akai groans as she feels how her knuckles start to bleed. Her eyes narrow as she realises that she won't accomplish anything by damaging her body and she sits down with her back leaning against a thick bamboo tree.

"What should I do now?" She asks herself while facing the sky above her.

The only thing she can do; train and try to regain her former health so she can protect her home when the people needs her.

* * *

**A **lone squad runs through the desert, shielded from the sun by their hoods, in a great hurry. They're supposed to meet up with a squad from Konoha near the boarder before acting as backup in the war against Sound. Temari frowns as she notice how the sand gets blown away by the harsh wind, she doesn't like that sign at all.

"A storm is on the rise, we need to speed up!" She yells at her team over her shoulder.

Temari, who just got promoted to a Jounin, is in charge even though her younger brother dislikes it. Kankuro groans as the strong wind almost buries him with sand and he would have complained to his sister if he didn't know that she was right. They still have a long way to go before they'll reach the meeting point and if they don't hurry they'll be stuck in a storm and the coldness at night.

"I got sand in my eyes!" Matsuri complains. "Ouch…"

Kankuro sighs. He likes Matsuri as a person but the fact that she's one of Gaara´s fangirls scares him a bit. She's young and not that experienced as a kunoichi so she's mostly dead weight for them but Temari likes her, that's why the teen is on the team.

"C´mon, hurry up." Kankuro urges her on.

It takes about one and a half day for them to reach the boarder between Wind and Fire countries and they can see how a group of people already are gathered there from a distance. Temari frowns when she realises that they're indeed late. She recognises almost all faces as the ninja who battled in the Chuunin exam, but they sent two higher rank ninjas with them. The team of Konoha ninja that´ll fight with them is Yamanaka Ino, Tenten, Arubame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu. Kankuro regards their team before he makes a comment.

"Where is that lazy strategist?"

Temari looks around but can't find him so her eyes land on his female team mate. She thought that Shikamaru would be here since this is a grave situation for the three countries but the man is no where to be seen.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Temari asks Ino.

The girl looks dazzled for a moment and her blue eyes narrow before she lower her gaze with a sad expression on her face. Something is hurting the Yamanaka girl, that's is for certain, and a cold feeling enters the older blonde. _Has something happened to him?_

"He's already in Grass." Is Ino´s answer.

"…Oh." _That lazy boy is one step ahead of me! _"Then what's with the sad face?"

"I'm just worried."

"Hn." Temari snorts.

She can understand the girl's worry since she also feel a little uneasy about her closest friend in Konoha being in the centre of the war already but Temari is wise enough to believe in the Nara boy.

"We need to hurry and meet up with team Kakashi as soon as possible. Let's go!" Kotetsu tells them all.

Izumo is the first to obey orders and the others follow close behind. Matsuri groans due to her fatigue but follows silently, she eyes her new comrades with interest. She's exited and afraid at the same time since this is the first time she is on a serious mission like this. The fact that she'll meet the ninja who helped her years ago, Naruto and Sakura, makes her happy. _I'm finally able to serve you Gaar--- no! Kazekage-sama! _She blushes.

* * *

**There **are two kinds of people in this world, the ones who starts to act over-friendly when they realise that Akai´s blind and those who tease her about it. It wasn't until she met Neji that she understood that there are people who don't change when the realisation hits them. Neji´s voice didn't change, he didn't treat Akai differently nor pitied her and she believes that's what made her fall in love with him in the first place.

Akai also knows that she has a lot of friends who has gotten used to her and therefore started to act normally around her, which is good. Her closest friends, Kumori and Ino, are two of a kind and didn't trust her at the beginning but slowly started to treat her as a real kunoichi. _I miss them…_A deep sigh leaves Akai´s lips as she wanders down the street with two buckets of water hanging on her pole that she carries on her shoulders.

She's currently helping out to repair to rather to keep the village alive now when half the population is gone. Since the majority of the ninjas are men the women has to take care of their duties as well to keep the village going. The albino girl can feel how more and more gazes focus on her as she walks towards the centre but she ignores it as always.

"What is she drops the buckets? We can't afford to lose the water…"

Akai´s eyes snap open at the rude comment but she stays silent. The woman is right; the village can't afford to lose food or water in times of need but her tone tells Akai that it's not that she's worried about. It's the fact that someone like Akai is carrying it that bothers her but she uses her worry as an excuse.

"Shhhh! She'll hear you. I have heard that she has the same hearing as the dogs." Another woman tells her.

Akai puts down the two buckets when she arrives at the location of an almost demolished house. She smiles as the mother of the house accepts the water. The Grass kunoichi has always tried to work as hard as her fellow ninja but her looks, her bad eyesight and her handicap seems to make people fail to appreciate her the same way the appreciate the others. She has grown used to it and was for a while about to accept that as her reality but changed her mind when her father encouraged her to get stronger. He encourages her to earn their trust.

"I don't want to sound mean now but she do look like she's taken from a horror movie…"

"What matters is that she works, looks doesn't matter." The woman Akai gave water to tells them.

"Yeah but….!"

_When will this stop? _Akai frowns as she's starting to get irritated. She can't understand how people can talk shit about people when a war is threatening to kill everyone. The fact that they do makes Akai believe that they're ugly people, not on the outside but on the inside. _Why am I trying so hard to save this village again? _The albino girl doubts that she'll be able to live here peacefully after they acknowledged her since she has already seen their true faces but she wants to try, wants to believe that people can change.

"Maybe I'm too naive…" Akai sighs.

She grabs her metal pole and leaves the gossiping women behind. The tapping sound of her feat hitting the ground echoes between the ruins around her as she jogs down the street. The sound waves make her able to see the landscape in front of her clearly and she avoids a stone by jumping into the air. The girl uses every moment to train and improve her physical condition and is slowly growing stronger.

The times Akai gets too into thinking that no one acknowledges her she forces herself to see how much she has changed since she left Grass. She got so many friends that likes her for who she is and not what she looks like and she even aided them in a mission. Akai has grown so much but it's hard for her to see just how much she has improved especially since it's not affecting much of her daily life in Grass.

Everybody wants to be loved but some must fight a little more to achieve it.

* * *

"**You** don't have the scroll." Orochimaru states the fact.

"No Orochimaru-sama." Yoshi kneels down. "I´ll get it tomorrow and bring it for you before sunset."

Yoshiforces himself to calm down as Orochimaru´s yellow, snake-like eyes looks at him once again. Those eyes hold the same golden colour as his own but they're still so different. Orochimaru´s eyes creeps him out in many ways. _He knows. _Yoshi swallow his saliva nervously. _He doesn't know…_Orochimaru turns to talk to Sasuke. Yoshi hopes that his uneasiness is hidden behind his cold mask of indifference as he gets to his feet again and stands there close to the campfire together with the men that'll lead the Sound army against the army of his home village. _I know this is a suicide mission…_He swallow his saliva. _I´ll probably get killed…when… they find out._

Yoshi has always been a happy and hyperactive ninja and his personality isn't fit for someone who has to act as a spy and he's aware of that. He has since young age always been the one who acts strong but is weak inside and he noticed that when he first met Akai. The girl was so depressed and antisocial but they were forced together since they got into the same team. It was at that time Yoshi noticed that he felt good to comfort her since that made him feel needed and strong.

His faced was broken during the chuunin exam where Akai and Kanaye passed him by in strength so easily while he failed and ended up at the hospital. He felt as if the student overshined the teacher in a way and was forced to face his weakness once again. Yoshie didn't really know himself that well at that time and he realised that his happy attitude was just a mask. He smiled to hide his true feelings like a lot of people do when they feel the need to protect themselves. The thing is that he didn't know what he protected at that time.

He felt so humiliated when both Akai and Kanaye got promoted to Chuunin while he still was a Genin with broken bones and pride. It was then Yoshi got the chance to grow stronger with the new task Yamamoto-same gave him; to act as a spy. He said that a spy doesn't need much strength but has to be graceful, skilful and be able to lie without showing any weakness. Even though the new job was like a blow to his pride he accepted it and thought that maybe a spy is was he's supposed to be.

_I've to pull myself together…!_Yoshi tells himself mentally. _There's still some time left before Grass´ troops will arrive…I might be able to flee before that._ He takes a deep breath and glances at the man that has been regarding him for a while.

"You seem jumpy."

Yoshi forces himself not to jump at the sudden voice at his side and gives the Korean man a silent glare. Even though he knew he was there the voice surprised him more than he thought it would.

"I dislike wars." Yoshi tells him. "I became a spy to avoid it."

Kim Jeong snorts and looks at Yoshi with a pissed facial expression. The man can't believe that the Grass ninja thinks that way since he believes it's the opposite. Jeong doesn't believe that Yoshi is the man he tells everybody he is but trusted him due to Orochimaru´s orders but he can't be quiet about it any longer. _He didn't bring Orochimaru the scroll today either, so why should I believe him?_

"Bullshit." The Korean man comments with a snort. "If you're afraid to get killed, being a spy is the worst choice you can make."

Yoshi is forced to look up when Kim Jeong grabs his shirt but he doesn't let his growing fear or raging heartbeat destroy his facade just yet.

"If a spy gets caught…the punishment gets kinda scary, do you read me?"

Yoshi´s golden eyes gets shaper at this and a thought enters him. _Maybe this foreigner will be the one who ends my life if I don't make it. _The young ninja shakes it of and returns the man's stare with equal emotion in his eyes. Yoshi can't abandon this game now, not when things are about to turn really interesting.

"Are you threatening me?" Yoshi asks him with a smirk on his lips.

"Yes I am." He answers directly. "I think it's time for little _Yoshi-chan_ to show just how much of a ninja he really is."

Kim Jeong lets go of Yoshi and the Korean prepares himself for a battle while Yoshi stares him down in silence. The older man gets irritated by this and is about to say something when Yoshi opens his mouth to speak.

"Why should I battle you?" Yoshi puts on his cold mask. "_Gaijin._"

"Why you little--!"

"_Yamero!_" A deep masculine voice interrupts their quarrelling. "There's no time for you to argue. I can hear them."

The blue eyed redhead stops their fight by separating them with two strong hands. He stares at the two smaller men without any emotion in his eyes. The commotion seems to have caught Orochimaru´s and Sasuke´s attention and the two of them approaches their lower rank allies.

"What do you want Ryu?" The Korean man yells at the redhead angrily.

"The Grass army is coming." Ryu tells them calmly.

"Ryo, what did you ssssay?"

Orochimaru turns to look at the three men with wide yellow eye.

"I said that the Grass army is coming." Ryo repeats in a higher voice.

Several eyes turn to pierce Yoshi´s body with intense glares. A pair of dark brown eyes change colour into bloody crimson and Yoshi finds himself staring into Sasuke´s Sharingan.

* * *

**AN; end of chapter, hope you liked it!**


	25. Chapter 25

**AN; Here comes chapter 25! I really think a song fits Akai, Naruto and the whole situation in Grass right now so I decided to put the lyrics in the chapter. The song is called "One of the ones" and is sung by Amy Diamond. If you're interested, check it out! The song will continue in the next chapter too because this one got too long. This chapter will mostly be about Akai´s, Neji´s and Naruto´s struggle to keep the faith up, keep on fighting for what they believe in and a lot of important things. Enjoy!

* * *

**

**Naruto **can't describe what he's feeling as he, and the rest of the Grass troop, enters the area that Sound conquered in the last battle. The once beautiful landscape is destroyed by the large amount of people walking through it and the Grass shinobi are troubled by the view of the demolition. Naruto doesn't notice this since his mind isn't with them. The blonde Konoha ninja walks like a zombie while his beautiful blue eyes are distant.

His mind is in a blur, his thoughts wander to different things in a quick speed that leaves Naruto confused and restless. But there's one person that is on his mind more than others and that's _Uchiha Sasuke._ The enigma's dark stare, sometimes with the Sharingan activated, looks at him every time Naruto closes his eyes.

"Sasuke why don't we end this now? Follow us to Konoha and we´ll be able to solve anything…everyone wants you to come back."

Naruto recalls how he pleaded with Sasuke last time they saw each other but what he remembers even more is the way the man declined his request without second thoughts.

"_Haha." _Naruto can still remember the heartless laughter, it still echoes in his head. _"We talked about this last time Naruto. I won't return and things won't return to what it used to be. That Uchiha Sasuke you knew doesn't exist anymore."_

Naruto knows that Sasuke has changed since he last saw him but the fact that he told him that without a trace of regret makes him depressed. His blonde hair floats around his head as he shakes it. Blue eyes get focused again.

"_Then I´ll take you home, even if you object." _The blonde can also remember the bitterness in his own voice. _"Tsunade wants to give you the village's punishment."_

Naruto frowns. It's true that he has to take Sasuke to Konoha no matter what he or Sasuke thinks. The question is if he can do it. Fight Sasuke, capture him and take him to a village where a severe punishment is waiting for the Uchiha. A pain near his hart makes his chest hurt like it has done several times ago.

Shikamaru makes a move of his hand and the Konoha squad jumps into the air and starts to use the trees to move forward. The wind feels nice against his face as he jumps from branch to branch but using these bamboo-like trees are a lot harder to walk on than he thought. He regards how the less skilled Grass shinobi runs below him and he wonders how many of them will be able to survive the war.

"We're closing in on them, prepare yourselves!" Shikamaru alerts everyone.

Everything turns eerily silent all of a sudden and the earlier heavy footsteps are no longer that loud. Naruto pulls forth a kunai and prepares himself for battle. His pulse is starting to accelerate as he feels how a foreign chakra gets closer and closer. An image from the corner of his eyes makes him aware of that he's not the only one who's fighting his emotions.

The stoic Neji looks very intimidating as he jumps from branch to branch with his Byakugan activated. Those large veins make his eyes look terrifying but also desperate. Naruto tries to ignore the feeling that grows inside of him; he doesn't want it to happen. The blonde man believes that he and Neji will get in each other's ways since they both wants to reach Sasuke but in different ways. Totally different ways.

A loud sound echoes and it's now clear that the Sound army knows that they're coming. The battle is about to begin.

* * *

**Have you read the news today? **

**So much hate going round **

**Ain't no love to be found **

**Is everybody out of faith? **

**Spending most of their lives **

**Trying to waste it

* * *

**

**Akai **sighs. Her whole body is aching due to severe training the day before and moving around has become a burden. Purple bruises can be easily seen on the skin that's bare but the girl pays no attention to it since she's busy enough with stretching her muscles. Her smaller brother, Gosai, continues to practise his chakra control seriously by her side and Akai smiles at his passion.

"Onee-chan, teach me how to do that trick!"

Akai, who adores her little brother, does everything she can to help him to improve but she finds it difficult since she can't really see what happening. The fact that the young boy asks for her help makes her chest grow warm and she can't object.

"I showed you a moment ago, Gosai-chan…" Akai complains with a smile.

"But it's tricky…"

"Isn't a trick supposed to be tricky?"

Even though Akai can't see she knows that Gosai is pouting. The Grass kunoichi gets up on her feet and pats him on his head.

"I´ll do it, watch and copy alright?"

"Hai!"

Akai takes some steps away from her brother before she stomps loudly to locate a good target. The vibrations in the ground tell her that there are two trees in front of her and Akai chooses one of them. She performs the correct hand signs and summons a big shuriken made of grass, that can be extremely sharp if you want it to, and throws it in the direction of the tree. The large shuriken hits it and the tool dissolves into small grass strands until it disappears completely.

"Now, try."

"Hai!"

The small, soon to be Genin, takes some steps forward and prepares himself with a serious expression on his face. Akai regards him in silence and she flinches when her ears pick up that he actually copied her stomping before performing the jutsu too. A smirk grows bigger on her pale lips. Gosai makes the handsigns rather quickly but due to the speed of it they're not as good as they could be. Akai´s smirk fades as the jutsu turns incomplete and useless. She can feel how her little brother gets sad due to the change in the air but she ignores it and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to stomp…You can see, right?"

The small boy smiles weakly up at his sister.

"Hehe, I like it when you stomp."

"Strange child." Akai mutters with a small blush on her cheeks. _He's so adorable!_

The two of them starts over and Akai is about to show him the jutsu step by step when a loud sound interrupts the peace around them. It's the sound of a battle horn of some sort and it´s never a good sign. Akai tenses immediately and her quick reaction scares Gosai a little, he clings to her arm.

"What's that sound?" He asks her.

Akai uses all her senses to grasp the situation and she receives a picture in her head rather quickly. All the people around them have also stopped in their duties to listen to the terrifying sound from the distance and none of them is happy about it. One of the few Jounin that has stayed in the village starts to act and tells the villagers to head back to safety and wait for further information. That's when Akai understands that things might get ugly soon.

"They're already fighting…" She murmurs to herself but Gosai hears it well due to their closeness.

"I'm scared."

Blue, misty eyes look down at her brother who's clinging to her. Even though the child fights his fears Akai can feel how he shakes in her embrace. Akai frowns as she starts to enter her kunoichi mode.

"C´mon, I´ll take you to the academy alright? They know what to do."

"Yeah…"

Akai is quick to grab Gosai´s hand and throws him up on her back. She makes sure that he's sbalanced there before she starts to run towards the academy as fast as she can. Her quick steps create a map inside of her mind and it makes it easy for her to find her way. Gosai clings to Akai in a way that makes it hard to breathe but she ignores it as she continues to run. The need to protect Gosai makes her able to accelerate even more since Akai believes protecting her family, and village, in this way is her only choice now. _I´ll protect them as much as I can! _

The villagers around her are also starting to get consumed by panic for their lives and the Chuunin fears that the situation will turn chaotic. The village is so small and is already ruined do to the latest attack so the fear of getting attacked once again will turn this place into something she won't recognise. But that doesn't change the fact that she'll protect it until she dies. A young woman meets her gaze as she approaches the academy and it takes a while for Akai to understand that she´s one of Gosai´s teachers.

"Isozaki-san!"

"Sensei, please take care of Gosai-chan."

Akai puts down Gosai and gives him a quick but tight hug before she turns away to run towards her home. She needs to inform her mother about it because a lot of injured people might get into the hospital soon.

"Hai, be careful!" The teacher yells at my back.

"Onee-chan!"

"Be a nice kid okay? I´m gonna go and fetch mother. I´ll come by later!!" Akai shouts over her shoulder.

She can feel how her breath is starting to get deeper and she wants to curse out loud at her bad condition but doesn't, she continues to run in silence. Her heart is beating quickly in her chest and it's both due to her health and fear. A throbbing pain is starting to invade her stomach and Akai knows that her wound isn't that well yet. She lowers her speed a little and is careful not to over do it as she jogs towards her home.

"Mom!"

Akai calls for her mother as she enters the house and it doesn't take long for her to _see_ where the woman is. Akane is running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room while packing her medical tools.

"I'm on my way, Akai go and help the villagers to safety!"

"Yes."

Akai turns and is about lo leave as quickly as she arrived but her mother stops her.

"Eh…wait."

"What?"  
"Be careful."

Akai´s eyes widen a fraction as she feels how Akane hands her a small, cold bottle of pills. The form and weight of the bottle is enough to tell her that it's indeed her painkillers. A small smile graces the corners of her lips as she faces her mother.

"Thanks, I will."

* * *

"**Everyone**, get yourselves to safety!" Akai yells as loud as she can.

Every one seems to be devoured by fear and panic and Akai knows that those emotions will cause chaos if this continues. She tries to look calm and collected even though her heart is beating quicker than the speed of a train since the albino girl knows that seeing her calm face might help others. Or they'll just freak out because she's paler than usual.

"Akai-senpai, what should we do!?" A genin asks Akai in a desperate voice.

The albino recognises the young man quickly and gets surprised since he is one of the ones who use to ignore her presence. _So he do know that I exist._ She thinks to herself as she turns to face him properly. The man is frightened, she can tell due to his breathing and shaky voice, and she puts her hand on his shoulder. She wonders why he approached her out of fear when he didn´t dare to do just that in normal circumstances.

"Calm down." She tells him calmly. "We need to stay calm so the villagers can feel safe. Go to the south and make sure everyone is taking cover. It won´t take long before the battle will reach Grass."  
"Yes!" He nods and rushes away.

Akai listens to his steps as he runs away from her. The fact that she's the only Chuunin at the location make her rise in rank and a lot of lower status ninja suddenly listens to what she has to say. It's a strange situation that she both likes and dislikes with all her heart. They should have listened before too and not only now due to the war. Akai embraces her new position and starts to work together with some of the villagers who're trying to seek cover. She works in silence until one of the few Jounin that stayed approaches her. He regards her work for a moment.

"Good job, Isozaki!"

Akai turns to the man but she can't pinpoint who he is since his voice is affected by his injuries and bad condition. The man has been running, a lot and that shows.  
"Senpai." She greets him with a small bow of her head.

"All the villagers in this area are safe for now, thanks for your help."

When his voice gets clearer she recognises him as one of Aoi´s friends from the time when he was in the academy. The man she's talking to is probably one of the people who graduated the same year as her brother.

"No problem." Is her answer.

"We should move to the gate and prepare for the attack. We need as much people as possible defending the gates."  
"Hai. Let´s go."

Akai and the rest of the Grass village´s shinobi prepares themselves for battle near the outskirts of their home. All they can do now is wait. Her pale fingers fumble with the lid of the bottle of pills before she's able to open it. She takes a white and yellow one and puts it into her mouth and swallows quietly. Her misty eyes turn to look at the forest. She want to be there on the field with them so badly and it hurts to swallow her pride and not run to them. _I've to get stronger. _She thinks as she looks into the darkness of the bamboo forest. _And I´ll only get stronger by obeying orders and protect the village this way! _

Akai notices how her senpai, that's called Hanasaku Yusuke, regards her in silence and his stare makes her hide the bottle of pills in her long sleeve. Yosuke doesn't speak but Akai can feel how his thoughts start to surround her like a cloud of worry. A deep sigh leaves her lips.

"Hanasaku-senpai, I´ll manage."

"Eh… un." He agrees after a while.

_I hope I won't get myself killed.

* * *

_

**There might be trouble on the way, ey **

**But I'll be damned if I surrender

* * *

**

"**Damn,** they've noticed us!" Kiba growls after some time of sniffing around. "They'll attack!"

The Inuzuka man looks at the others over his shoulder as he rides Akamaru in the front of the marching army. He is excited but also cautious and decides not to rush into battle as he uses to do. This is an important battle and he can't afford to do any mistakes. His gaze meets Shikamaru´s for a moment and he can literally smell the lazy man's uneasiness.

"It's time to charge!" A Grass ninja yells.

Kiba flinches "H-hey!!"

Akamaru jumps out of the way as several shinobi rushes by and the sudden movement makes Kiba lose his balance somewhat. He and Naruto are often the hot-headed and impulsive ones on the team so it's a surprise for him to see how so many rushes to battle without a second thought. _Maybe I would be like that too if we were fighting for Konoha and not Grass…_He ponders to himself before he follows the flow.

"It's time to do some damage!" Lee sounds thrilled but serious at the same time. "Yosh!!!"

Kiba looks at the older man and decides it's time for him to get some action too. He can't lose to Lee right? Akamaru barks as if the dog read his master's mind and the two of them runs after the army of Grass ninja. Shikamaru sighs deeply since he thought that Kiba actually would act a little more responsible during this mission.

Shikamaru is about to say something when his cheek suddenly starts to hurt. His dark eyes narrow as he realises that he has been cut by something sharp and fast, a shuriken. Shikamaru jumps to his side to avoid another one and he is quick to calculate where they came from. Above. Shikamaru acts quickly and grabs one of the shuriken aimed at him and throws it back in the same direction as it came. A loud groan can be heard before a red liquid falls from the tree; Shikamaru hit his target.

Neji and Naruto rush by Shikamaru since they believe he can handle the situation by himself. Both of them have a different goal in mind and that is to find Uchiha Sasuke and to beat him. The Uchiha is one of the strongest foes in this battle so when they take him down the victory might be close by. One of the most important rules in a war is to beat the leader since when the leader is down his underlings will crumble but no one is looking forward to battle Orochimaru. But will the snake continue the war if he loses his most important chess pieces?

Shikamaru sighs once more as he stares at Naruto and Neji´s backs since he is well aware of what is going on. The ponytailed man jumps to his side when two Sound ninja shows themselves and Shikamaru gets ready to fight. He binds them with his shadow techniques and cuts them until they can't hurt him anymore. He's shutting of his emotions to be able to kill the way his enemies want to kill him. Blood colour his hands but Shikamaru doesn't notice as she continues to fight. The fight has began.

**Lee **and Kiba races through the narrow bamboo forest in high speed while attacking everyone that comes to stand in their way. The two of them competes in a game where who defeats the largest number of enemies wins. If the boys knew The Lord of the Rings they would have realised that they're behaving just like Legolas and Gimli.

It doesn't take long before they stand face to face with two Sound shinobi that they know they can't beat as easily as the others. Kyo and Jeong stand in front of them with weapons in their hands. They won't let the Konoha ninja pass without a fight.

"Long time no see." Kim Jeong greets them with a wicked smirk.

"That's my line." Is Kiba´s answer.

The four men are so focused at each other so the battle around them is only a blur. Kiba wants to throw himself at them and he knows Akamaru feels the same, his dog is ready for fight. Akamaru barks threateningly before he growls and approaches the enemy. Kiba follow him. Lee stays a little behind and regards Kiba but is quick to throw himself in the air and deliver a graceful kick into Kyo´s stomach when the man tries to attack Kiba from behind. A loud gasp can be heard and the battle has started. Kiba and Akamaru charges at Jeong together as a full-fledged team and are able to get him off balance. The Korean man falls to the ground and Kiba smirks at this but it disappears when Jeong´s body turns out to be a fake. Kiba and Akamaru find themselves devoured by a cloud of smoke before they see how they're sitting on a bamboo branch that they thought were the enemy.

"Shit!" Kiba curses as he turns around.

But it's too late. A fist touches his chin and the Inuzuka is thrown into the air. Kiba see stars as the pain reaches his brain. Nothing is there to cushion his fall when he hits the ground either. Akamaru´s whimper turns into an angry growl as she charges at Jeong by himself. The Sound ninja doesn´t bother to run and accepts the attack without hesitating. He twitches as Akamaru´s long and sharp teeth pierces the skin of his right arm.

"Way to go Akamaru!" Shouts Lee who has been regarding them while fighting.

Kiba smirks at Lee as if he's saying _look how cool my dog is _before he realises that Jeong doesn't seem to be bothered by the pain at all. Lee, Kiba and Akamaru stares at the Korean in silence. Lee is forced to groan when Kyo tackles him from the side. The grean beast is able to avoid falling to the ground by doing a graceful turn and counter attack.

"You two aren't very good as a tag team are you?" Jeong comments as he charges at Akamaru.

"Akamaru!" Kiba roars with fear.

Kiba kneels by the dog´s side as he lies whining at the ground. The glare that is directed at Jeong after that would scare the mightiest monster would flinch and that's exactly what the Korean does; flinches. A growl, deeper and more dangerous than ever heard before leaves Kibas slightly parted lips as he gets on his feet and faces Jeong again. Lee and Kyo stops facing when the sound of Kiba echoes through the forest.

"…Kiba?" Lee swallows saliva.

The taijutsu user has never seen his friend so pissed off before and he doesn't know if it's a good or bad sign.

"Lee." Breathes. "Let's do some damn damage!"

* * *

**Rather be one of the ones **

**That keeps on trying **

**Rather be one of the few**

**That won't stop fighting **

**Rather be one of the ones **

**That keeps surviving **

**I'll be around**

**Stand my ground **

**Come whatever

* * *

**

**The** Squad with back up approaches Grass as fast as their legs permit them to. Ragged breaths echoes among them but no one speaks, they need to save their strength for later. Temari keep her eyes on the horizon far away as she keeps on running. The Suna kunoichi is determinated to reach her friends and kick some ass.

"How long will it take to reach Grass?" Ino asks out loud.

"If we speed up a bit we'll meet with the others in a few hours." Kotetsu replies.

"I hope Sakura is alright…" Ino murmurs.

"That girl will be ok." Kankuro tells her.

Ino looks at him with a surprised face but recalls Sakuras story about how she saved him when he was badly injured once. The older Suna ninja seems to believe in the green eyes medic and that calms Ino´s nerves. She smiles up at him.

"Yeah, I know…"

"Shino, search the area for foes."

Shino doesn't need to be told twice. A swarm of insects leave his sleeves and dashes out into the forest in their hunt for enemy ninja. Ino shivers at the sight of this and it makes Kankuro smirk.

Hinata is travelling in silence and the girl can't relax even though she's surrounded by friends. Her thoughts are with her cousin. White Byakugan eyes flutter as she recalls Neji´s face when he told her he would go after Akai and fight in the war that's threatening Grass. Hinata is scared for Neji, frightened that he'll get hurt letting his emotions take over him at the same time as she knows he's doing the right thing. Hyuuga Neji isn´t in Grass due to orders or a mission, he's there to protect someone very dear to him. Hinata believes that this is the first time Neji fights for someone else that way. _Akai…_

"Hinata are you alright?" Tenten asks her.

"Ehm… I´m f-f-ine." She stutters. "Just w-worried."

"Me too." She smiles. "But they'll be okay. They're strong and I bet Neji would never let anything happen to Akai."  
Hinata´s eyes widen as she realises that Tenten has understood everything and feels the same way. It seems that everyone knows of Neji´s feelings towards Akai but the question is if the cold hearted, stoic Hyuuga understands his feelings as they do.

"I k-k-now Naruto will be alright." Hinata smiles with certainty.

"He always will." Ino adds to the conversation.

The three girls smile at each other before a new silence spread among the group.

* * *

**Naruto **and Neji stops dead in their tracks as they finally find what both of them have been looking for; Uchiha Sasuke. The said man is sitting down comfortably at a corpse that's lying on the ground. Heavenly blue eyes widen as Naruto stares at how Sasuke takes the dead Grass shinobi´s head band and throws it at the ground. Neji frowns at this as the Hyuuga feels how the veins around his eyes grow in size as he concentrates to read the Uchiha. It seems like Sasuke has been waiting for them to arrive.

"Sasuke, you…" Naruto starts.

"I won't return with you Naruto." Sasuke tells him bluntly as he gets to his feet.

An ice-cold silence spread between the three men as Sasuke´s emotionless words starts to make sense. Naruto frowns as Sasuke finally decides to look him in the eye. The look tells Naruto that Sasuke is deadly serious.

"You won't reach him." Neji states the fact in a cold voice, his white eyes doesn't leave Sasuke for one moment.

Naruto flinches as he sees how Neji gets into the famous and well known fighting Hyuuga fighting position. The Jounin keeps one hand in Sasuke´s direction while the other is lowered while he takes a closer look at the Sound ninja´s chakra system. It seems that he hasn't needed to use a lot of chakra at all to defeat the ninja that's lying lifeless at the ground around his feet. The hate that has been building up inside of Neji grows even more as Sasuke starts to grin in a very cocky way. Naruto turns to Neji with a panicked expression.

"I've to try!" Naruto exclaims in a desperate voice. "I'm the only one who can…"

"Hn." Is Neji´s only reply.

The Hyuuga takes a deep breath before he charges forward towards the still smiling Sasuke. White clothes floats around his limbs as Neji lowers himself to the ground as a preparation for his jutsu.

"Neji!!" Naruto screams.

"Hakke kushou!"

Neji thrusts his hand towards Sasuke´s chest area and shoots his chakra towards the Uchiha as a deadly weapon. Sasuke was somehow able to understand this and is able to jump out of the way. A pair of dark eyes stares into white ones and Neji, who can see almost everything, notices a small hint of surprise in those dark robs. It's like Sasuke is ignorant of why Neji is doing what he's doing.

"Hyuuga, I don't see why you should charge at me with that kind of fury." Sasuke comments in an indifferent way.

"…" Neji is silent for a long time before he speaks. "Give up and return to Konoha or I´ll drag you there by force."

"I want to see you try." Sasuke smirks. "Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu!"

Sasuke takes a step back, forms the signs and inhales deeply. A large cloud of fire leaves his lips as he exhales and the extremely hot attack is aimed directly at the Hyuuga. Neji understands that he can't fight it head on so he uses his best defence technique to evade it.

"Hakkeshou Kaiten!"

A light blue shield of chakra surrounds the Hyuuga as he spins around and around quickly. The barrier saves him from damage, the fire can't break through it but it also drains his chakra so he must be careful and not use it carelessly. Neji, who is more of an attacker than a person who relies on defence, decides to charge once again. The problem is though that several other Sound shinobi has gathered around them and Naruto is struggling to fight them off. Naruto keeps glancing at Sasuke and Neji over his shoulder while fighting.

"Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou!"

Neji gets into his personal fight position; leaning down with his right hand towards the ground and his left at a higher lever behind him. He attacks when he has gathered enough chakra and takes two Sound ninja by surprise. He strikes them both in their chest and they fall to the ground quickly.

"Two strikes!"

Neji swirls around and kneels down as Sasuke charges at him with a kick and manages to avoid the attack. White, dangerous eyes stare at Sasuke as he delivers the next attack at the Uchiha. With the use of Sharingan Sasuke makes Neji´s attacks bruise him instead of hitting his charka system.

"Four strikes! Neji breathes with a glare.

Sasuke smirks as he jumps away and let's the unknown men take over the fight with both Neji and Naruto. The blonde ninja is using his clones to kick their ass. The two Konoha ninja are outnumbered but are able to continue on due to Naruto´s jutsu. Neji delivers several serious hits to the Sound ninja as his Rokujuuyon shou goes on but no matter how hard he tries he can't reach the real threat.

"Thirty-two strikes!"

Naruto approaches Sasuke successfully and it's now a battle of old rivals. Neji regards them from the corner of his eyes as he reaches the end of his jutsu.

"Sixty-four strikes…!"

A deep breath leaves him when he feels the consequences of the technique; Neji is starting to get drained of chakra. Naruto charges at Sasuke with kunai in hand and manages to throw him of balance. The two falls to the ground and Sasuke uses a small dagger to shield himself from Naruto´s kunai.

"Naruto!" Neji breathes.

Neji rushes to aid his friend but stops ddead in his tracks when he sees how a dangerous light starts to emerge from Sasukes free hand. The sound of one thousand singing birds can be heard for a moment.

"Chidori!" Sasuke roars.

Naruto´s scream echoes through the forest as the lightning hits him in the chest. White eyes widen as Neji leans back to avoid to be hit but he fails and the electricity travels through his limbs in an amazing speed.

It feels like he has been hit by thunder and his muscles in the area he touched are numb and paralysed. The pain makes it hard to breathe and he inhales and exhales with great difficulty. He touches his stomach as if he wishes that he could take the pain away but it makes it worse and he wonders if he has burn marks beneath his white shirt. He groans but his white eyes don't leave Sasuke for one moment. Sasuke has gotten free from Naruto´s hold and is towering over his old friend with a smirk on his lips.

The way Sasuke moves makes Neji believe that he's thinking of doing something that'll hurt him severely and that is when he sees it. _That sword…_Neji´s white eyes widen. _He used that sword to… _He recalls the moment he first saw how Uchiha Sasuke pierced Akai with his katana when he used his Byakugan. Her lifeless form, all the blood and his empty eyes haunts him still and Neji thinks for a moment that he still can see her blood on the weapon. It seems like Sasuke is about to charge the metal weapon with the help of his chidori to kill Naruto. A moment is all it takes for the Hyuuga to react and charge, disarming him in one quick, swift movement.

"…!"

The blade, that is stained with blood, flies through the air and pierces the ground, wobbling before it gets balanced. The metallic sound echoes loudly in Neji´s ears even though the sound of the battles around them should have made it impossible to hear. Bloody red eyes stare at him with surprise and anger but he doesn't let the impact of the Uchiha´s gaze affect him. He can't afford to and don't have to since his Byakugan is the stronger of their two eye- kekkei genkai, he is certain of it. Sasuke´s eyes widen a fraction when he realises the determination behind Neji´s equally strong and hateful glare.

"You're serious." It's not a question.

"I'm always serious." Is Neji´s cold answer.

Neji doesn't give Sasuke a chance to reply or continue to attack Naruto since he once again charges with his quick and accurate fists. Even though they're accurate is Sasuke able to dodge a lot of them quite easily with help from his Sharingan and quickness. Through his Byakugan Neji regards his opponents chakra system and aims for the points that'll make it impossible for Sasuke to use his chakra at all. It's difficult to hit them with his gentle fist since Sasuke can foresee his movements with his kekkei genkai, much to Neji´s disadvantage.

Just before Neji is about to strike one of Sasuke´s vital points a hand grabs his arm in a very violent and desperate way. Neji´s eyes widen as he comes face to face with Naruto and the genius realises that his team mate and friend is going to shield Sasuke with his own body.

"Neji, don't!!" Naruto screams in a desperate way.

"…Naruto!" Neji´s eyes widen.

Neji uses all his might to stop the movement of his body so he won't harm the blonde but the collision is unavoidable. Neji feels how intense pain invades him as he crashes into Naruto with full force. Their heads collide, he bites his tongue so it starts to bleed and he loses his breath as they fall to the ground in a heap. A loud, pained gasp leaves Naruto´s lips as he tries to get up from his location beneath the Hyuuga.

"You foolish---"  
"Let me do this Neji!" He interrupts the one-year-older man. "I'm the only one who can make him change his mind."  
"It's useless!" Neji growls at him in an uncharacteristic way. "He has already chosen his path! And he _almost_ **killed** you."

"I want to be one of the ones that keeps on trying!"

Neji´s eyes widen as he stares into Naruto´s blue determinated eyes. The Hyuuga doesn't know if Naruto is brave or only foolish to think like that.

"I still have faith in him." Naruto adds.

Naruto gets to his feet and leave Neji behind as he approaches Sasuke.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

* * *

**AN; I'm seriously happy over the fact that many reads my fanfiction and fav it etc but I would highly appreciate of you told me your thoughts about it in a review. It means a lot to me to know what to think since I can't get better as a writer if I never get to know what you guys think! So please take your time and send me a small note. **

**Ehm, I´ve amde a major mistake with one of the characters and that is to use two names for him! I´ll change that when I get the time to. I bet some of you have noticed!  
**

**Please remember that this story doesn't follow the manga´s storyline at all. So the act between Sasuke and Itachi doesn't happen here. I seriously cried when they met in the manga! **

**I also want to ask you some questions since I know that a lot of people have different views on Sasuke.**

**Will Naruto be able to "save" Sasuke? What do you want to happen?**

**Can Konoha forgive him?**

**What about Naruto and Sakura? Can they truly forgive him and go back to the team they once were?**

**What about the Sasuke X Sakura pairing?**

**Would another pairing in this story ruin it or can you see my OC Kumori together with someone?**

**Don't worry, I already have my viewpoints decided but I want to know what you think before I continue. I also want to apologise since I know I suck at describing fights. **

**Read and review folks!**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN; "Snarf McSnarfson" I sadly couldn't reply to your wonderful review, please try to contact me again through a PM and I´ll get back to you! Also a big thank you to "Lovelylynx" who gave me my longest review ever! Here, take some cake!**

**I really appreciate when I get long and detailed reviews with feedback where people say what´s good and less good about the story. It really helps me to get motivated to write more and above all to improve my English.

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**

**Akai** and her senpai Hanasaku Yusuke are sitting together with several other Grass ninja of different rank near the outskirts of the village. They can't do anything but wait for the war to come to them. The sound from the bamboo forest not too far away tells them that it won't take long before that happens. Grass and the back up team from Konoha were in an disadvantage from the start and no one thought that them fighting in the forest would end the battle; no, it will surely reach the city once again.

"It's coming closer." Yusuke comments.

The heavy vibrations in the ground are enough for Akai to believe his statement and nod. She was worried that working with her senpai would be a problem since she doesn't know him that well but everything is professional and goes on smoothly. Yusuke seems to be a Jounin in his early twenties that were told to stay to protect the village due to an injury on his leg. _We don't have a lot of warriors ready here, only injured and tired ninja…_Akai calculates. _All of our power is out there fighting so if it fails, and if they attack the village as I'm sure they will…we won't have a good defence at all. _ A deep breath leaves her slightly parted lips as a new wave of chakra from the forest pushes them backwards. _This will probably be a hopeless fight._

"Our first priority is to protect the village and its citizens." Yosuke says out loud so everyone can hear him. "We will fight to protect only."

"Senpai…" A Genin approaches him. "There isn't any chance at victory, is there?"

Akai tenses as the question is voiced and she faces her senpai in wait for his response. It's clear that Grass can't win this fight, not without sacrifices and great losses, but it's still too early to give up in her point of view.

"We're facing an enemy greater than ourselves and there wasn't much hope to begin with." Yosuke starts with a firm expression on his face. "But even the tiniest village can throw a whole army to the ground due to its choice of strategy. Look in front of you; we have the enemy in our forests, a forest that's foreign to them."

The Genin, and several others who are listening, seems to understand what Yusuke is trying to say them. Akai feels how her own negativity fades as she starts to see what advantages they have against the sound.

"We have a splendid strategist from Konoha with us who has formed the plan together with Yamamoto-sama… who will lead us to maybe not a victory, but a way to survive this threat in the best way possible. I personally believe that we can win, I do."

What Yusuke said makes him grow as a Jounin in Akai´s eyes. It touched her heart deeply. He seems to tell no lies and is able to see both the threats and the possibilities in battle at the same time as he makes the lower rank ninja regain the will to fight again. The tension fades a little and the scared Genin is able to relax.

"Did that sound ok?" Yusuke whispers with a smile, he makes sure that no one else hears it.

"You did great, senpai." Akai grins. "A really moving speech."

"Hehe…" He chuckles.

Akai moves along with him as he walks around to check on all the shinobi under his care. Yosuke seems to be a man that really cares about the ones under him no matter who they are or how strong they are. The fact that he acts the way he does towards her shows his trust but also will to get to know her more. A leader must know the skill of the ones under him to be able to fight properly in a pinch. Since Akai has been in Konoha for some moths the two of them hasn´t been able to meet.

"Is your injury alright?" Akai asks him.

"It's just an old one that didn't get the time to heal properly, it doesn't affect me but was enough to make me stay behind. How about yours?"

"I´ll manage,as I said, but I need to be careful not to reopen the wound. I can fight but I don't know my limits."

"I´ll keep an eye on you and I want you to step back when you reach that limit or when I tell you to. We can't let you—"

"I won't become a hindrance and if I do I´ll get out of the way, I understand."

The way Akai responds make Yusuke smile broadly.

"I wonder why we haven't fought together before." Yusuke smiles.

"Who knows." Akai shrugs her shoulders as she returns the smile.

* * *

**Shikamaru **can already feel how he and the rest of the Grass shinobi are losing to the Sound. It was inevitable but happens too soon to his liking. It's hard for him to act like a leader when they're fighting in a place that he doesn't know as well as he would want to.

"Tsk!"

Shikamaru makes a irritated sound as he notices how more enemies are gathering around him and the few Grass ninja that stayed by his side. The fact that the Grass ninja are a lot less skilled than Konoha warriors is crystal clear and Shikamaru comes to wonder how people can call Grass a shinobi village at all at times. The strategist sighs as he has to cover one of the Grass Genin´s back when an enemy charges. The Sound ninja attacks as if he thinks that he already won and that makes it easy for Shikamaru to ruin that thought. With a simple twist of his arm Shikamaru grabs the attacker and makes him turn in mid-air before he's thrown into several bamboo trees close by.

"You have to watch your backs!" Shikamaru orders them.

"Yes sir!"

The quick way they accepted Shikamaru as their leader shows their lack of confidence as a ninja. The frown on Nara´s face grows as he's literally forced to cover for them all the time. He makes a face as he notices how a kunoichi is being targeted.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!"

He uses his Shadow Possession technique to stop the attacker in his tracks and the girl flinches when the man behind her drops the kunai he would have killed her with if Shikamaru didn't interfere.

"I said: watch your backs!" Shikamaru repeats.

Shikamaru puts his hand into his pocket and _pretends_ to grab a kunai and angels it towards his throat. Due to his shadow possession, the enemy caught in it does indeed have a kunai directed towards his throat and his life ends as Shikamaru pulls his arm backwards. The girl screams as the man falls to the ground as the Konoha ninja releases his grip on him. Lazy eyes stare into a pair of narrow, shaking ones as he stares at the girl to prove his point. A sound from the distance makes Shikamaru look over his shoulder and a wave of relief hits him. A grey horse is trotting his way and the man on its back is one skilled fighter. Kanaye makes his horse approach Shikamaru as he greets the foreign ninja with a polite nod.

"Nara, what's the plan?"

"Kanaye-san…great timing!" Shikamaru grins. "Nothing will work when they can´t even look after themselves!"

The quiet man on the horse glances at the few Grass ninja that fights while shaking and his dark eyes focus on the girl that's sitting on the ground due to chock.

"…I´ll take them away from here, you should continue on and I´ll catch up with you."

Kanaye offers the girl his hand and helps her up on Riku´s back behind him. Shikamaru nods since he appreciates the help.

"Hurry, I need you."

"Speed isn't a problem."

Shikamaru regards Kanaye as he exchange some words with the Grass shinobi before they speed towards the village. Kanaye isn´t a person who brag; he _is_ fast. The way Kanaye easily took care of a situation Shikamaru found troublesome is proof of that fighting in foreign terrain is a disadvantage.

"…What a drag." He comments before he continues forward while thinking; _Remember what Yamamoto said…use the terrain…Ahhhh…Impossible!

* * *

_

**Some say: "Choose your ground**

**Don't go down the wrong way" **

**Life ain't easy **

**But I don't wanna be afraid **

**If I bend, if I break **

**I will learn from mistakes

* * *

**

**Lee **stares wide-eyed at Kiba as the Inuzuka grins wickedly in his direction. _Oh, I don't like his expression!_ Kiba doesn't wait for Lee to respond as he jumps up on Akamaru´s back and charges again. Kim Jeong smirks as the dog shinobi approaches him in an amazing speed. The Korean´s smirk grows as he pulls forth a long katana from the holder on his back.

"Katana no odori!"

Kiba´s smile fades as his target defends himself by attacking straight on. The way Jeong moves create a whirl of sharp edges makes Akamaru hesitate in the final moment, and due to a miscalculation, they cash straight into the enemy.

"KIBA!" Lee screams with fear.

When Kiba and Akamaru finally escapes Jeong´s jutsu both of them are in a pretty bad shape. Several rather deep cuts cover their bodies that may cause a severe blood loss. Kiba glares at Jeong as he wipes away blood from his cafe carelessly before he checks on his dog. Lee steps forward to protect Kiba when both Ryo and Jeong approach him.

"You two…are so finished!" Jeong smirks with wide, happy eyes.

Lee glares at them as Ryo steps forward. Ryo looks down at them with cold, emotionless eyes as he performs some hand signs before he reaches out toward Lee.

"Hikage Genkaku." He says in a deep voice.

Lee´s eyes widen as everything around him changes all of a sudden. The bamboo forest evolves into a bright light that surrounds him from every direction. _A genjutsu? _Is Lee´s first thought but a strange feeling inside of him makes the fuzzy brow lose his focus. Warmth that he never felt before invades his being, happiness takes him off his feet and energy floats through his veins that makes him become invincible. Winning becomes a piece of cake in the Konoha ninja´s eyes all of a sudden and he attacks the blurry image of Ryo in front of him.

"What the hell, Lee!"

Kiba stares at Lee as he rushes forward after several seconds of silence. It's like whatever the enemy tried to do didn't work at all because Kiba can't see any change until Lee jumps into the air and attacks. The older Konoha ninja´s technique has changes drastically; it's like he's saving his powers for later by attacking lazily. Ryo and Jeong evade the attacks easily but that doesn't make Lee try harder, almost the opposite.

"Why are you hesitating Kiba, this is child's play!" Lee laughs his way.

Kiba narrow his eyes and Akamaru whimpers at Lee´s behaviour. The Inuzuka forces his aching body to move as he gets up on his feet so he can grasp the situation better. Lee continues to enjoy the fight with a smile as he delivers kick after kick without any success, it's like he doesn't notice that he's not doing any damage. _He said Hikage Genkaku…genkaku…an illusion!_

"Lee, snap out of it! He has you under his spell!" Kiba growls.

After delivering a kick Lee jumps backwards to stand in front of the injured Kiba. The green beast smiles at him over his shoulders in a way that makes it seem like he has no troubles at all.

"What are you talking about?" He asks Kiba innocently.

The smile on the older ninja vanishes as Jeong cuts him over his chest with his sword. Those eyes that once held happiness widen and narrow due to sudden pain Lee wasn't expecting at all.

"LEE!"

Kiba rushes forward to catch Lee before he touches the ground. Wide eyes stare up at Kiba as Lee´s slowly returning to reality.

"Kai!" Kiba releases the jutsu that's on him. "Lee, yo! Answer me."

"Ryo´s illusions are rather cruel aren't they?" Jeong chuckles.

"What did you do to him!"

"My Hikage Genkaku and Yami Genkaku techniques can alter what you feel, how you interpreters what's around you and the mood you're in easily." Ryo explains indifferently. "I made you friend feel like we were no threat, that he was way stronger than us so he would lose due to over-confidence…like that."

"You what?"

"Do you want a taste of my jutsu, I´ll give you a chance to understand it? Yami Genkaku."

Kiba gets no chance to respond when a genjutsu is thrown his way. The last thing he hears that's truly there is Akamaru´s frightened whimper. Everything around him disappears and darkness takes its place. _Oh no! I've to escape the illusion before it—_ The illusion takes a hold of him. His stomach grows colder for each passing second and a fear, greater than never felt before takes over. It's dark, cold, terrible and he feels like the world is going to end any minute. His body becomes heavy…A sudden pain invades him as Kiba bites himself hard in the lip to regain his senses.

"Kai! Release…!"

It's very hard for him to perform the signs, almost impossible, due to the heavy dark pressure all around him telling him to give up. _We are…doomed…_The thought scares Kiba as it enters his mind. _I can't escape the illusion…_

Akamaru growls before he throws himself at Ryo and takes him by surprise. The large animal bites his arm hard and doesn't let go. The white dog braces himself, let his fangs pierce the Sound ninja´s arm and pulls backward in sawing way. The loyal dog won't look when his master and friend are getting hurt.

* * *

**Naruto** and a lot of copies of him approach Sasuke slowly. Over a hundred pairs of blue eyes stare at the Sharingan wielder but that said man doesn't move an inch or even react to the disadvantage. Two of his clones prepare a Rasengan as the others charges quite impulsively at Sasuke. The clones are no match for him and all of them disappears in a cloud of smoke in no time. Naruto makes a _tsk_ sound at this before he turns to Neji who has during all this time protected him from possible threats from the outside.

"Neji, continue on. I´ll take care of Sasuke." Naruto tells Neji.

"Hn." Sasuke smirks, he doesn't believe Naruto is able to handle him at all.

"I´ll stay around and fight of the foes threatening your fight." Neji tells him. "I´ll be around."

"Alright." Naruto nods with appreciation clear in his blue eyes.

"Don't be thankful towards me, Naruto." Neji tells him in a cold voice. "If you fail to beat Uchiha I will interfere and do it without mercy."

Naruto´s eyes widen at this because Neji makes his position very clear to the blonde. Neji is on his side and will give him a chance to settle things his way but if the battle goes out of hand he will interfere and kill Sasuke. The coldness in those white Byakugan eyes send a shiver down Naruto´s spine but he can understand where that anger come from because hey share it. Neji has never really liked Sasuke but was interested in his strength the first times they met. The Hyuuga´s dislike for the other eye kekkei genkai family grew from that point to the hate he feels today. He almost died during the mission to retrieve Sasuke from the Sound and the man he once tried to save attacked a person dear to him with the intent to kill. Neji and Naruto look into each other's eyes for a moment as their thoughts focus on the same person; Akai. As if Neji´s feelings reach Naruto a anger boils up inside of him as he thinks of how the one he now tries to save almost slaughtered a friend. No matter how much he want Sasuke back he can't forgive the man for what he has done. They are forced to break their eye contact as Neji fights off some Sound ninja that attacked from behind. Naruto shakes his head as he tries to get back to reality again as he feels how the Rasengan in his hands grows stronger.

"How long are you going to hesitate?" Sasuke asks him in an indifferent way.

"You've waited long enough." Naruto agrees. "Rasengan!"

Blue eyes widen as Sasuke takes a hold of his arm and evades his Rasengan by throwing him towards the ground. The blue ball of chakra shrinks into nothing as the clone disappears into thin air and as the real Naruto hits the ground. Sasuke had predicted what would happen and was able to fully avoid the attack by using his bloodline. Sasuke doesn't let go of Naruto´s arm and uses it to keep him immobile on the ground beneath him. No matter how much Naruto pull and turn doesn't Sasuke´s iron grip on him loosen and if the Sharingan man wanted him dead he could kill him anytime now.

"You haven't changed." If you didn't think Naruto´s eyes could be smaller you were wrong, they narrow drastically as Sasuke, all of a sudden, sits down on his back. "You're still the same old and impulsive Naruto. What made you think you could beat me? I´ll get Orochimaru that scroll no matter what stunts you pull."

"I might not have changed but you have." Naruto comments while holding his breath.

The way Sasuke sits on him makes it very hard to breathe and it's also very insulting. A loud metallic sound tells Naruto that Sasuke has pulled forward one of his swords. A cold feeling enters Naruto and it paralyses him more than Sasuke´s weight already does; he will get killed if this continues on.

"I've changed you say? I would say that I've gotten stronger!"

Sasuke pierces Naruto´s shoulder with the sword and the young man on the ground grows silent. The whole forest seems to grow eerie silent in the next passing seconds. A pair of white narrow eyes stares at the unmoving form on the ground while fighting off an enemy.

"Naruto!" Neji calls out.

A smirk graces Sasuke´s pale face as he puts back his sword but that smirk disappears as something unexpected happens. The body beneath him vanishes into thin air and Sasuke is forced to jump back so he won't fall on his ass. _A kage bunshin? _Red Sharingan eyes widen as the characteristic smoke for that jutsu surrounds him but they're closed shut when a punch is delivered to his cheek. The power behind the punch sends him flying backwards but he's able to land on his feet some distance away. Naruto approaches him slowly and Sasuke calculates that the real Naruto must have hidden behind some bamboo trees all along.

"You sure have changed, the Sasuke I knew didn't underestimate his opponents." Naruto tells in a quite cold manner.

"Hn."

They both keep their distance before Sasuke charges towards him in an amazing speed. Their fist connect and send sparks flying through the air, which in its turn creates a pressure wave of chakra that makes the thin bamboo trees shake around them. Neji´s long hair floats in the air as he turns to regard the fight since several of his opponents where knocked off their feet by the mere pressure. Naruto frowns as he shields himself from Sasuke´s kick, evades another punch and dodges another kick before he attacks and it's Sasuke´s turn to evade. This goes on for a long time but neither of them backs down.

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto asks his former team mate.

The two of them stares at each other while both gives their all to get the other out of balance. None of them makes the other move one inch in the power struggle.

"You know that very well, to avenge my clan and kill my brother." Sasuke tells him.

Both of them jumps backward to avoid the other's attack and stay at a distance. Their power is almost equal so Naruto decides to try to talk Sasuke into giving up and realise that he's wrong even though he knows it's impossible.

"If you kill Itachi with Orochimaru´s help you won't gain anything! That fucking bastard is only using you!" He shouts in a ragged breath.

Sasuke stays cool as he stands there a distance away.

"What if it's the other way around?" Sasuke answers.

"Eh?" This takes Naruto by surprise.

"Nothing you say is going to change my chosen path." Sasuke change subject.

"Do you think Itachi would like that?" Naruto counter attacks verbally. "That chosen path of yours?"

"He killed my whole family Naruto." Sasuke tells the facts. "Why shouldn't I kill him? Why should I _care_ about what he thinks?"

"He is your brother." Is Naruto´s answer. "You should talk with him first because if you do kill him, Itachi will disappear along with the answers you seek."

"You don't understand…anything." Sasuke starts to sound bitter.

"No I don't." He agrees.

It seems like the quick agreement made Sasuke think for a change and he regards Naruto with interest, waiting for him to continue talking. They are talking about a sensitive subject and a single mistake from Naruto´s part will make Sasuke furious.

"I've never had a family and never went through the loss you did but we were both _alone." _Naruto tells him. "The only difference is that you were alone because of Itachi and I… due to…the monster inside of me…"

Sharingan eyes widen with surprise for a moment before the man hides his emotions with his facade again. _Monster? What…monster? _The Uchiha has no clue about what Naruto is talking about but he wonders if it's connected to the inhuman amount of chakra the blonde has.

"And another thing… People who live only to seek revenge are nothing but a shell of their true self. What will you do when you finally killed Itachi? "

Sasuke stays silent.

"You don't know, do you?" Naruto asks him in a cruel, angry voice. "Maybe restore your clan? But will you be able to do that _on your own_ Sasuke?"

"Shut up, Naruto." Sasuke is starting to get irritated.

"No I won't shut up! I won't listen to you any longer! It's your turn to listen to me." Naruto growls. "What kind of girl do you think would give herself to a person who is like you? Would you want your wife to be afraid of you?"

"I said SHUT UP!" Sasuke has finally lost it as he growls back at Naruto.

"I WON´T SHUT UP, DATTEBAYO!" Naruto screams in an inhuman way. "You have created so much hate and pain, Sasuke…and I can't ignore that anymore. You almost killed one of my friends…"

Sasuke looks at Naruto with rage with his emotionless facade almost breaking as the blonde tells him he has had enough.

"Don't sacrifice yourself for the sake of revenge…just like you felt when you lost your family, losing you will tear a hole in my heart and who should I kill for revenge when this will kill you?"

"Naruto, I said… STOP TALKING!"

Sasuke charges with his chidori out of nowhere and startles Naruto greatly. Blue thunder almost touch his cheek as Sasuke reaches for him but the blonde manage to dodge in the last second. Something Naruto said made Sasuke act impulsively without thinking and that makes it easy for the Konoha ninja to avoid his attacks and counter attack. The fast Uchiha turns and is about to attack again when Naruto interrupts by delivering a punch straight in his former best friend's face. The dark haired young man falls to the ground with a gasp of surprise. Naruto approaches him slowly.

"I´ll take you down." Naruto looks him straight in the eye with no fear. "That is a promise."

Black eyes stare up at Naruto when the young man´s features starts to change into something less human. A red chakra surrounds him as he slowly starts to take the shape of a giant orange fox with several long, tails.

"What… is this!" Sasuke breathes.

* * *

**When there's a cloud up in the sky, I Go looking for the silver lining

* * *

**

**Akai´s **misty blue eyes twitch as she senses how a powerful wave of power is closing in on them from the forest. A fight is taking place, a very ugly fight between several skilled shinobi. Her heart skips a beat when she recognises one of the chakras as Naruto´s. Goosebumps makes the hair on her arms stand straight up. It's the same feeling she got when she first met Naruto in the bamboo forests months ago; when she managed to save him from Uchiha Sasuke. _This red, powerful and…dangerous chakra…_ Akai breathes out slowly.

"Isozaki-san, some reports state that the wall is getting attacked by the Sound. We're needed at the South Gate." Yusuke tells her.

"Yes." Is her only answer. "We should hurry."

The two of them are quick to get up on their feet and run towards the South Gates. The ground is shaking due to the battle and Akai worries about falling when another great vibration makes a building crumble at their side. She uses her pole to knock away some falling stones as they were threatening hers and Yosuke´s safety. The muscles in her body protest at the movement of her arm but Akai ignores the pain and continue down the road.

"Yusuke-senpai, over here!" A man calls for Yosuke.

Akai follows Yusuke as he approaches some Grass shinobi near the South Gate and it doesn't take long for her to notice the danger. A lot of Sound ninja has managed to escape the forest and found the entrance of their village; they are all heading towards the gates.

"They're coming!" Someone says out loud.

_I've to protect everyone. _The warmth of the people behind Akai tells her of their presence and above all, about the whole village that she need to protect. _I cannot fail this time! I cannot stand and watch when my village gets demolished for the second time!_ Akai starts running towards the gate and uses chakra in her feet to climb up so she can see the battlefield in front of her.

"Isozaki!" Yusuke calls Akai as he sees what she's doing.

"I´ll try to stop them from reaching the gates, it´ll probably just hold them off but it´ll give you some time."

Yusuke nods before he orders his men to step back and prepare for battle. Akai turns to face the sun as she makes the correct hand signs for one of her strongest jutsu. With a final movement does she hit the ground with her hand and the earth below the wall starts moving.

"Doton: Yomi Numa no jutsu!" Her voice echoes inside the village.

The ground moves upward in a wave like motion and sweeps the enemy army backwards toward the forest. Sweat is forming on Akai´s forehead as she controls the earth and tells it to swallow the ninja that are threatening to destroy her home. The ground cracks open as she angels her two hands downwards and pulls outward and screams can be heard as people fall into the opening. _I won't make it. _The thought enters her as men that she couldn't stop with her earth bending starts to climb up the wall.

"They're here now!" Akai shouts to prepare Yosuke.

A ragged breath leaves her slightly parted lips as she orders the earth to change course and move towards the wall in a quick speed. The sand hits the wall hard enough to kill some of the ones who were climbing but so hard so the wall crumbles under the pressure. A sudden change in the air alerts Akai of a man that suddenly is standing quite close to her. She grabs her pole quickly and defends herself as an outstretched arm tries to take a hold of her shirt. The narrow platform that she's standing on gets crowded faster than she had thought and a punch that connects with her chin sends her flying backwards, down, towards the others.

"Isozaki!"

A pair of strong arms catchers her just in time. Yusuke helps Akai get back to her feet but the girl's legs are shaking and it surprises him. Dark brown eyes meet her wide ones as he checks her condition thinking that she must be injured. But no wounds can be seen on her and he realises that she's shaking out of fear and exhaustion.

"They're too many!" Akai breathes.

"Numbers aren't important, you should know that." He tells her.

They are not able to exchange more words because the first ninja from the Sound army jumps down from the wall and starts charging. Akai finds herself on the ground all of a sudden as Yusuke jumps to protect her and himself from the attackers. _This is not the time to feel fear or be tired!_ A loud, vibrating sound echoes as she gets up to her feet since she has already prepared a technique that will cause severe damage.

"Baibore-Shon no jutsu!"

The pole glows and seems to grow thicker due to the heavy vibrations and the sound alone makes some grit their teeth. Akai runs forward and uses her pole to attack the invaders. Her movements are not like they used to be; they're rusty, slow and careless due to the lack of training but she manages to knock out two or three warriors. Even though she gives it her all she can't stand the pressure around her. Akai´s breath is ragged, her body is shaking due to exhaustion and a fear is growing inside of her because the wound near her stomach is aching. Maybe her green shirt is already red by the blood of her old wound? _I promised to not get in the way…_Her conversation with Yosuke lingers sin her head as she draws back from the fight. The cold wall behind her feels great as she slides down to sit on the ground, hidden from the other's vision. _I can't go on like this, I need to rest and then I´ll…_

"Aaaaah!"

Akai throws herself to her right as a metallic weapon almost cuts her head into two pieces. Someone must have seen her crawl into her hiding place and followed her here. The pole helps her avoid injuries but an intense pain in her shoulder tells her that whoever her opponent is managed to hit her more or less. She's too fatigued to fight back properly and when her attacker prepares to finish her of Akai can't protect herself. But the pain doesn't reach her. A loud grunt tells her that someone came to save her in the last second.

"Senpai!"

"I got your back."

Yusuke kills her attacker with a simple movement of his arm and a sound tells her that a lifeless body hit the ground close to her. A strong hand grabs her elbow and she's pulled to her feet quickly. Wide eyes stare at Yosuke.

"No, I promised you to not become a burden! What are you thinking!" Akai starts to complain.

"Breaking that promise, I need you."

"What?" Akai is surprised over his words.

"More men are coming. I need you to use your Yomi Numa technique." Yusuke tells her. "Is that a good enough reason for me to save you?"

Akai snorts but can't hide her smile. She would have hated the fact that he saved her because of pity or that he underestimated her but Yosuke saves himself some trouble by telling her she's needed. Akai doesn't like to be saved but is smart enough to tell when she should be grateful.

"The others are tired and we've already lost a lot of warriors…we need to stop Sound now if we want Grass to survive the attack at all. I believe your Yomi Numa can do that, it it's used correctly."

"Tell me about it." Akai tells him. _Do I have enough chakra to use that justsu?_

"Yamamoto-sama is the one who requested you, so he´ll be the one talking."

Akai´s eyes narrow.

* * *

**AN; things are moving...what do you think about the fight so far?**** I hoped you enjoyed it!I told you before but I´ve constantly misspelled a name of my OCs... his name is Ryo not Kyo or what I´ve written. I´ll change that when I have time.  
**

**Please read and review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: thanks for all the lovely reviews, they make me really happy. It´s thanks to faithful rewievers and new ones that I find the energy to write this. This story is getting more and more attention and it makes me work a lot harder, thanks. I´m glad you like Akai as a main character and I hope that if there´s something about her you think is odd, like her being mary-sue, please tell me about it. I want to make her as human as possible. One thing I want to point out though is that reviews such as "Tenten and Neji rules" doesn´t help me at all. If you don´t like an OCxNeji pairing please don´t read this nor bother me with such comments. I personally dislike them together but that´s because I love crack pairings and OC pairings. Enjoy chapter 27!

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**Isozaki **Aoi curses as a sudden earthquake makes him and his men slow down on their hunt of the two Sound men that almost killed two of their allies, and a giant dog, from Konoha. The earth shakes violently around them which results in that some need to lean onto something to not lose their balance. Aoi turns around and stares at something in the distance in the direction of the village. _Akai…_ He inhales deeply. _That was indeed her doing. _A cold feeling invades his body since he now knows that his little sister was forced to fight even though she already is injured. It means that Sound has reached their village already. _Shit. _ "An earthquake!" A man yells and brings Aoi out of his thoughts.

"Watch out for falling trees!" Aoi warns his squad.

The man approaches the two Konoha men lying on the ground and takes them both to safety, far away from the trees and moving ground. Aoi checks their wounds and realises that they have both lost a lot of blood, enough to send them into the world of the dead. Dirty fingers feel for a pulse and he understands that the two of them are still living, that they are real fighters that can oppose death.

"The vibrations stopped!" Someone informs them of.

"Don´t just stand there, hunt down the two who did this." Aoi orders the men. "Gemma, Hyori you tend to their wounds… the rest of you follow them!"

"Hai!"

The two women stay and start to take care of Inuzuka Kiba and Rock Lee while Aoi gets to his feet to scan the area. He didn´t wish for his squad to break up but he felt they had too since the chance of killing those two Sound ninja seems to be highest at this time. Brown eyes regard Kiba and Lee. _It seems that they had a long and painful battle…_ A sudden cough breaks the silence and it doesn't take long before Aoi hears how Gemma talks.

"Are you alright?" She asks one of the men.

"I'm still living?" Kiba asks her with surprise. "Where's Akamaru?"

"The dog is fine, he's just exhausted... but I´m no vet sadly." Hiyori informs him with a gentle smile.

Kiba glances at Lee that is being treated by the woman called Hiyori and winces at the sight of his friend's bloody and swollen body. His dark eyes narrow as he understand how close death the three of them were and a fear of Ryo´s illusion makes him hold his breath. Kiba disregards his fear with a shake of his head.

"Heal us quickly, we need to hunt those bastards down!" Kiba growls with fear for Lee´s health and the need to continue to fight.

"My men are already at it. It´ll take time, Inuzuka, because unlike Konoha we have no educated medics." Aoi tells him with distaste due to Grass weakness.

"Damn." Kiba curses.

"Take it easy, boy." Gemma comments. "I´m sure Kai, Kio and Yashuiro will kill the ones that did this to you."

"You don't understand, their jutsu are…" Kiba starts complaining wide-eyed. "Don't expect your friends to come back alive."

Aoi´s eyes narrow at hearing this and the feeling of that he committed a mistake sending those three after them grows.

* * *

**Sasuke´s **Sharingan eyes widen when he failed to predict the change in battle that occurs in front of him in this moment. The Naruto he knew changes into a beast that he only have seen in his mind when the elders talked about the disastrous day when a lot of people died to protect Konoha. _The Kyuubi._ Sasuke had no idea that the beast was living inside of Naruto all this time but the realisation clears a lot of questions. He always wondered where Naruto got all his chakra from and how he could grow stronger in the most terrible situations.

A sudden movement in the earth makes Sasuke´s attempt to get onto his feet and protect himself fail so the Kyuubi´s claws hit him in the face. The power behind the hit sends him flying until a stone appears in his way. Sasuke loses his breath as he hits the hard rock and is too dizzy to move as the earth beneath him keeps on vibrating. Blood colour his right cheek red.

"Uzumaki, snap out of it!" Neji warns his friend. "…Naruto!"

The terrible earthquake makes Neji reach out with his arms to keep his balance but it isn't the vibrations that frighten him; it's the growing Kyuubi. _Things are getting way out of hand! _Neji is forced to protect himself from the falling trees by using his Kaiten technique even though his running low on chakra. An ice-cold feeling enters the Hyuuga´s chest as the vibrations in the ground finally dies out, he sees this as a bad omen but doesn't let himself get side tracked. He decides he trust Akai enough to not let worry and fear consume him and prevent him from fighting with all his might. The large Kyuubi growls as it loses its balance due to the earthquake but is quick to attack when the vibrations fade. Sasuke jumps backward deeper into the forest as the large fox hunts him in an amazing speed. A loud growl leaves the monster's mouth as it strikes again but the sound isn't as inhuman as its features are. Naruto is screaming.

"What is this?" Sasuke questions no one in particular as he defends himself.

Red chakra surrounds Sasuke as he desperately tries to defend himself from the violent charges from what once were his old team mate. A deep cut decorates Sasuke´s pale skin all of a sudden and the Uchiha didn't even know how and when something hit him. His other cheek starts to bleed as well. Blue chakra surrounds Sasuke and Neji as the Hyuuga uses his Kaiten to protect them from the threath.

"I won't be able to fight the Kyuubi by myself." Neji would never help an Uchiha if not doing so would cost his own life.

It hurts Neji´s pride to save the Uchiha only to make sure that he, himself, would survive the attacks of the ancient beast but the Hyuuga knows his limitations and is wise enough to not ignore them. Even though people call Neji a genius he isn't invincible and a fight against one of the nine beasts is too much to handle alone. Sasuke doesn´t say anything but charges towards the Kyuubi together with Neji and that act makes Neji understand that Sasuke can´t manage the Kyuubi alone either.

"It's the Kyuubi, it has been sealed inside Naruto since long time ago" Neji answers Sasuke´s unspoken question.

Onyx eyes widen a fraction but Sasuke is quick to put his poker face in place. The two men are both wielders of an eye kekkei genkai and sees more than the average and Neji notices the slight change in Sasuke due to it. White eyes narrow.

"You were his team mate for years and didn't know?" Neji questions Sasuke coldly.

A tense silence spread between the two strong men as they continue to protect themselves from the rage of the Kyuubi. They doesn´t hesitate to attack it due to the knowledge of that they´ll die if they don´t. It doesn´t take long before both of them are out of breath and realises that they´ll get exhausted if the fight continues for a long time.

"The only one who can stop him is Yamato."

Even though Sasuke doesn't want to look surprised does Neji´s all seeing white eyes notice. The Hyuuga´s hate for Sasuke grows tenfold when he grasps how little the enigma really thinks or knows of Naruto. Neji knows that his blue eyed blonde friend wants to save the Uchiha but something he´s certain of is that he will never forgive Sasuke for what he has done. Never. And if he didn´t need him to survive he would have punched Sasuke unconscious himself right now.

* * *

**Rather be one of the ones **

**That keeps on trying **

**Rather be one of the few**

** That won't stop fighting **

**Rather be one of the ones **

**That keeps surviving **

**I'll be around Stand my ground Come whatever**

* * *

**Akai **breathes deeply, in and out, as she sits leaning against the wall. The second time she used her Yomi Numa drained a lot of her chakra and her whole body aches as she tries to regain her strength._ Ahhh...so tired..._ Akai managed to kill a large part of the Sound´s army that were about to enter the gates but several soldiers had already entered the village and she's sure more will try to. The question is if she can protect herself when it happens.

"Ah hah…haaa." Akai tries to catch her breath but fails miserably.

"Good work Isozaki-san." An old and dark voice tells her.

"Yamamoto-sama." She bows her head slightly in his direction.

The old man is standing next to her with a serious expression on his face. His dark eyes look into the distance and he doesn't show if he saw Akai´s bow at all. The leader of Grass has finally decided to show himself at the battlefield and the man´s presence gives the shinobi new hope. Akai can't help but smile as she notices that the man looks at his men with a glowing protectiveness in those otherwise dead eyes of his. His decision not to hand over the scroll with Zetsu´s secrets put all their lives at stake but Yamamoto seems to want to prove his decision right by fighting alongside his ninja. Or to take away his guilt over the many lives his choice slaughtered. The smile on Akai´s lips disappears when a terrible voice echoes between the narrow buildings.

"What's happening!" A male asks with panic clear in his voice.

"Who are they!" Another responses with a new question.

"Another enemy?" Yamamoto sounds tired.

"I don't know…." Yusuke answers truthfully.

It sounds like they've got a new strong enemy to fight of and the news make Akai´s insides turn. She has already done everything in her power to protect Grass and even she knows she can't fight any longer. _If they enter Grass, I´ll…every one will…_ She knew it was impossible to win but didn't accept it as a fact. The realisation makes Akai´s hope fade slowly and she grows paler than never before as she senses foreign chakra around her. Blue eyes widen at this.

"They're on our side! Look they fight the Sound!" Someone informs them of.

"What?" Akai wonders as she tries to name the person who emits such a familiar chakra.

"That's…reinforcements from Konoha alongside a team from Suna." Yamamoto comments with a content smile. "The alliance has been signed."

"Really?" Akai doesn't know what to believe.

"Isozaki, mission completed." Yamamoto smiles gently at Akai.

A strange happiness invades Akai as she hears this because the reason why a lot happened was due to her failing the mission to unite Grass and Konoha. When the new people enter the Grass Great Gate Akai realises who they all are by recognising their chakra pattern, weight, smell and voice. A big smile grows on her face. Their arrival changes everything and the men who thought of losing gets new hope, Akai gets new hope as well when the friends she thought she would never see again gets into sight.

"Welcome to Grass." Yamamoto greets them politely but is clear to show his distaste. "You are late."

"We sincerely apologise for the delay, Yamamoto-sama." Kakashi replies with a small bow of his head.

Akai forces herself up to her feet as she faces her friends from the time she spent in Konoha. She recognises almost all of them, except the people from Suna and a few other faces and seeing them makes new energy flow through her veins. She wants to run up to them, hug them, touch their faces and laugh but she knows it's not time for that. What they need is a new plan and not a hug party, but when one of her friends call Akai´s name she can't stop herself from running towards just that person.

"Akai!" A certain blue eyes blonde girl calls out.

"Ino…!" Akai breathes.

Akai and Ino hug tightly and the albino girl can't stop tears from forming in the corner of her eyes. She has missed the loud and bossy girl a lot and her pride can't stop those emotions from showing. You can hear some laughs from the team from Konoha as the two girls hug like crazy.

"I missed you!" Akai smiles.

"Same here! I'm so glad you're ok!" Ino returns the smile.

"Well... I´m not as good as I should be..." Akai mutters.

"Girls, it's no time for….whatever you're doing." Kakashi comments. "We are at war."

Kakashi and Yamato approach Yamamoto and Yusuke and start to get down to business and discuss what to do. They need to know where the backup is needed the most so they can start to aid Grass in the ongoing fight.

"Sorry, I forgot about that for a second." Ino chuckles as she scratches her head.

"Not funny Ino." Sakura comments sourly from Kakashi´s side.

"Where did she get air from?" Akai questions with a bitter tone.

Ino shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head. More people follows Ino´s move and approaches Akai to greet her with nods, smiles and even hugs. Akai touches Hinata´s hand gently as she notice that the Hyuuga girl is worried about her and her cousin's safety and tells her that the Konoha team is in the forest. Hinata smiles nervously and nods. Akai is also starting to get worried about Neji and the others because of the strong chakra that seems to grow stronger inside of the forest.

"We did not dare to hope for your arrival." Yamamoto states the fact." Especially not a visit from Suna."

Yamamoto bows slightly towards Kakashi before he nods in Temari´s direction. Temari returns the nod with one of her own before she introduces her team from Suna. Kankuro and Matsuri steps forward.

"We're the warriors from Suna, here to sign the alliance between our two countries. Alongside your treaty with Konoha our three kingdoms will stand tall against the likes of Sound." Temari tells Yamamoto with a slight bow. But before Temari gets the chance to introduce them all Yamamoto puts a name on her face.

"If I'm correct, you're Temari, the older sister of the new Kazekage."

"That's indeed correct. And this is my brother Kankuro…and this is Matsuri." Temari introduces them.

"Nice to meet you sir." Matsuri smiles sweetly.

"I´m pleased to meet you. Have you brought some medics with you?" Yamamoto asks.

"Yes!" Ino tells him loudly. "Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura at your service!"

"Please, treat the wounded." Yamamoto asks them while glancing at Kakashi who nods in agreement.

"One of them should go to the forest, they need a healer there more than here." Yusuke suggest while looking at both Yamamoto and Kakashi. "A team should go to aid the battle in there."

"I agree, we need to stop Sound before all of them reaches the gates." Kakashi says.

" Hatake Kakashi…" Yamamoto greets Kakashi in a way that makes them all understand that the Grass ninja knows of Kakashi´s abilities. "What do you want to do?"

"I´ll move out with a team of five; Yamato, Yamanaka Ino and Sai and Temari too if she agrees, but I need a local to show the way. I suggest the rest of my men will stay and help you defend Grass as well as Kankuro and Matsuri."

"I´ll go with you." _There's a certain lazy-assed ninja I need to speak with. _Temari nods towards her brother and friend to tell them that they should follow orders.

"Sensei, why can't I go?" Sakura complains quietly.

"They need a skilled medic here, Sakura." Kakashi answers tiredly.

"But..." She pouts.

"No, you will stay and I think you understand why. If we don't act quickly the Kyuubi might attack Grass."

Sakura´s green eyes widen at this as she understands Kakashi´s point. He believes Sakura won't be able to handle seeing Naruto get hurt but above all; meet Uchiha Sasuke again. That's why they send Ino in her stead because she's safe while Sakura who is a better medic has to stay to treat the wounded in Grass. Akai ponders over what they just said before she realises that the inhuman chakra she feels from the forest might be Naruto in the Kyuubi form; something she hasn´t really thought of before.

"The Kyuubi?" Akai repeats hesitantly. "As in…Naruto?"

"Yes." Kakashi tells her. "I need a guide through the forest, fighting in an unknown terrain will otherwise be a major disadvantage."

Kakashi looks at Yamamoto in his wait for a suggestion but it's Akai who flinches when she feels the old man´s eyes on her. Eyes narrow as she understands that they want her to do it. Akai is severely injured, drained of chakra and tired and understand that she shouldn't go even though she wants to.

"Me?" Akai raises her eyebrow. "I'm injured. I _can't_ do it."

"I put my trust in you young Grass kunoichi, if you can't show them the way no one can." Is Yamamoto´s only answer and leaves no room for complaints.

Something about the way he looks at her makes Akai unable to resist the offer. She doesn't understand why the old man decides to rely on her now when she's in no shape to be relied on at all. Maybe because Konoha accepted the treaty and came? Yamamoto has always helped Akai when her family disliked her decision to take missions and fight for her country but she didn't know he had that much faith in her. Or is it that he doesn't care if she dies due to her wounds? Akai shakes her head to clear it from negative thoughts.

"I´ll go." Is her answer. _I´ve to give my all to defend my home._

"Fight hard Isozaki!" Yusuke puts his hand on Akai´s shoulder.

"I feel that I won't survive this…" Akai complains with a smile."If I don´t, tell my family that I love them"

"Don´t worry, you won't have to fight, just lead the way." Kakashi tells her seriously. "I can tell that you've reached your limit. You shouldn't fight, just defend yourself when you need to."

"I can carry you, if you'd like." Yamato offers with a teasing smile.

"No thank you." Akai answers bitterly. "I'm injured but I still have my pride! I rather be left behind than becoming a burden."

"Hahaha…"Yamamoto laughs.

"Prepare yourself, we'll be moving out in ten minutes." Kakashi informs his team of.

Ino puts her arm around Akai´s shoulder as the two of them, accompanied by Sai and Temari, walks away to rest and prepare themselves while the rest starts to fight immediately. Hinata fights off the foes with her gentle fist, Shino kills them mercilessly with his bugs, Kankuro does the same with his puppets and Choji uses his own body to make the Sound ninja who dares to enter Grass shale in their sandals. Akai smiles softly as she sees how their disadvantage changes into an advantage in front of her. _We might actually win this now! I don´t care if I die on the way, I just need to prove myself and protect my loved ones! I can´t fail this time!

* * *

_

**Akai **struggles to keep up with the others as they sneak out of the village and enters the forest even though she is supposed to guide them. Instead of entering the bamboo forest straight on Akai tells them to take a hidden road that´s probably not detected by the foes and clear of battles that could slow them down. The local kneels down and pushes away some bushes before she signs to the others to follow her. Kakashi follows close behind in case someone hides and wants to attack them.

"It´s all clear." Kakashi informs them of.

"This road will take you to the centre of the forest." Akai informs them of. "It´s the most open space here. The strong chakra emerges from there."

They nod even though they all know that since they can see how the Kyuubi moves around at the place Akai talked of. All of them dashes away in a quick speed again and Yamato keeps Akai company since she is still struggling. It´s hard to keep up, hard to breathe and above all hard to ignore the pain in her stomach. Akai is paler than ever and she´s using stocked energy to keep on moving, it won´t take long until she collapses.

"I can´t do this..." She murmurs to herself.

The blonde kunoichi Akai befriended in Konoha looks at her in a concerned manner as they run down the narrow road hidden by the bamboo trees. Her blonde hair floats behind her gracefully as she moves. It seems that Ino has grown in more than one way since Akai saw her in Konoha on the day she decided to break the rules and leave.

"Akai, don´t give up." Ino tells me with smile full of belief.

"I won´t... but I don´t know how much my body can take."

It´s a suicide mission. Akai won´t be able to fend for herself when they reach the battle and that will make her a burden to her friends, she promised not to and that results in her being killed. Ino glances her way as a loud pant leaves Akai´s lips before she grabs her arm and lays it around her shoulders, offering support.

"Don´t—"Akai start to complain.

"Don´t be that stubborn!" Ino talks back to her. "We´re friends so you won´t be a burden to me. I´m offering you help so don´t insult me by not accepting it."

Akai looks at her with wide eyes and wonders how she could read her min like that. The Grass girl has always thought that the people who offer help only pities her but Ino tells her something different. Ino seems to want to help her and doesn´t care that it might slow her down. A warm feeling grows inside of Akai and she squeezes Ino´s hand gently as a silent thank you.

"You won't be a burden if you help us win this." Kakashi comments in an amused voice. "Yamamoto said to use the terrain to win. You do know the terrain."

"Yes." Akai tells them with new energy. "I do."

_Was that the reason Yamamoto sent me here? Because he knows that I know the terrain better than any other Grass shinobi due to my handicap? _Akai ponders to herself as she understands what she´s supposed to do in this war.

"Ino, can you heal her on the way?" Yamato suggests.

"I´ll try."

A green light enters Akai´s view and she realises that Ino must be using her medic chakra to tend to her wounds while they keep on running. The throbbing pane fades somewhat but her body is tired and her mind is still fatigued even though her visible scars disappear.

"Any suggestions on how we can use the forest?" Kakashi asks Akai.

"We have a river so if someone can use suiton moves that is a good place to go. The earth where we are headed is quite unstable due to the lack of trees so an earthquake or any other kind of moving of the earth would be effective. We could always use the trees too..."

Kakashi and Yamato looks at each other as if they´re meeting in a private chat room discussing what to do. Temari seems to dislike how she gets the least amount of power when she´s with the two older Jounin but she doesn´t complain. She´s a brand new Jounin and still sees them as her senpai.

"We need to stop Naruto first, then we can end this war using the river and soil." Yamato agrees. "Isozaki, keep that in mind."

"Yes."

"Naruto is our first priority since the Kyuubi can destroy everything if it´s not restrained soon." Kakashi adds. "Yamato, prepare yourself."

Akai´s face tenses due to all the talk about Naruto. If she´s honest she didn´t worry much about her friend because she believed he would be himself and manage like always but things have changed. She got to know about the secret the young man has kept himself for such a long time. Akai understands that he´s hurting in a lot of ways and it makes her want to comfort him right now. _I feel sick. _Sick due to her fatigue, wounds but above all her concern about her friends, her crush and her village´s safety.

"Here." Sai tells Akai and his voice brings her out of her world of thoughts.

Akai hasn´t talked a lot with Sai so him addressing her is a surprise. Ino and Akai glances at the man that always wear an indifferent expression on his face and notice that he´s offering Akai a medium sized pill of some sort.

"What is this?" Akai asks him as she accepts it.

"It´s food that gives you new energy, Sakura gave me a lot of them so you can have it. It´s really effective"

"Thanks." Akai tells him hesitantly.

She puts the pill in her mouth and starts chewing. Akai´s face turns into a grimace due to the horrible taste of the pill and she has to force herself to not throw it up in Sai´s face. Ino looks at her with a surprised face.

"Urg!"Akai forces it down. "It tastes horrible!"

Sai smiles emotionlessly, which is something that Akai never seen someone do before. She can´t understand the man at all.

"You´re well enough to scream, I see." Sai smirks.

Akai snorts. "Remember me not to eat anything Sakura makes!"

"She sucks at cooking..." Ino smirks. "Another thing I beat her at!"

Akai smiles and is surprised over the fact that she still can smile in the state she´s in. _Wonderful, now my breath stinks too._ She thinks. The small squad continues on and Akai feels how their getting closer to Naruto. The pressure around them grows with each step they take towards the centre of the forest. The inhuman charka gives Akai goose bumps but she ignores it because the wielder of that chakra is her friend. Her eyes widen all of a sudden.

"Stop!" Akai shouts.

A rhythmical drumming sound echoes in the ground and it approaches them in a quick speed. Whoever or whatever it´s that´s moving towards them seems to be running from the Kyuubi.

"Isozaki?" Kakashi wants to know why she told them to stop.

"Someone is coming, someone who knows of this hidden road..."Akai tells them while her eyes narrow.

"Prepare for battle!" Temari shouts as she takes forth her fan.

* * *

**I won't stop and I won't give in **

**Optimist 'til the very end **

**Ain't nobody gonna Change the way I am**

** People hating Bonds are breaking**

** Where's the pride in that? **

**There might be trouble on the way **

**But I'll be damned if I surrender

* * *

**

**Quick** and familiar footsteps can be heard from a distance and Akai makes the team stop as she decides if it's a threat or not. It doesn't take long before she realises it's her team mate riding on his horse. That´s why the footsteps sounded so strange.

"Kanaye!" Akai exclaims long before the other´s can see the man.

Temari sighs as she withdraws her fan as the silhouette of a man on a horse gets visible in the clearing not far away. The big and muscular man looks slightly tired due to dirt on his face and clothes but the fact that he isn´t injured makes Akai exhale with relief. He makes Riku stop close to them and the horse snorts as a greeting while his owner looks directly at Akai before he looks at the others with caution.

"Akai…"Kanaye says with the meaning_ why are you here? _lingering in the air."Who are these people?"

"Help from Konoha and Suna." Akai answers.

Kanaye regards the four foreigners in silence before he remembers why he was rushing towards the village in the first place. His dark eyes looks at Ino since she´s still healing Akai´s injuries with her green chakra.

"Are you a medic? A lot of people are badly injured and among them, some men from Konoha."

Kakashi, Yamato, Sai and Ino reacts at this since all of them has been worried about their friends´ health since they first heard about the situation in Grass. Akai looks at Ino as she looks at Kanaye and nods as she stops healing the Grass kunoichi.

"I am. I´ll go with you." Ino tells him."Is that ok Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, it seems that they need you more over there."

"Then jump up." Kanaye tells her.

Kanaye offers Ino his hand from his seat on the horse and Ino accepts it hesitantly. The blonde girl isn´t used to big animals like horses and riding one makes her a tiny bit nervous. She manages to jump up and sit down behind Kanaye with the Grass ninja´s help. She places her hands around Kanaye´s waist to keep her balance and the man doesn´t complain since he clearly notices her discomfort.

"A horse…okay." She murmurs to herself.

"Riku is nice, Ino. Breathe." Akai comments with a weak smile. "It´s in the same direction of the Kyuubi right? Kanaye, lead the way!"

"Yes!"

Kanaye squeezes his legs around Riku and the horse moves forward in a quick speed, something that makes Ino gasp and hide her face in Kanaye´s back. This makes Temari chuckle before she turns serious again.

"Let´s go!" The Suna warrior yells out.

Now when they´ve met another Grass ninja on their path the travel towards their destination is easier. Akai smiles a little as she realises that Ino´s healing has helped her regain some energy, enough to continue on her own. A thought strikes her then; how convenient it would be if Grass also had medic ninjas.

* * *

"**Kanaye**-san!" Shikamaru looks surprised with a smile. "Ino!"

The blonde kunoichi jumps down from the horse gracefully but comments on her ass hurting when she reaches the ground. Kanaye eyes her with one raised brow when it reaches his ears. _It seems that Konoha shinobi doesn´t use horses in their battles. _Kanaye shakes his head before he turns to face Shikamaru.

"Reinforcements from Konoha and Suna are on their way." Kanaye reports. "Sorry for taking so long."

Kanaye notices that the situation has changed since he left Shikamaru to get some people to safety. More people are injured and needs help and the Konoha ninja seems to be stuck with defending them once again. Two female Grass shinobi he recognises greets him with a nod before they return to their watch duty.

"Shikamaru, I'm glad you're ok!"

Ino jump-hugs him quickly but a loud voice interrupts the reunion.

"_Hello_, I'm here too!" Kiba growls. "Ino, hurry up and heal me!"

"Calm down doggie boy." Ino sighs as she gets to work. "It´s nice to see you again, even during these kinds of circumstances."

Shikamaru and Kanaye sits down to rest since this is one of the few moment they are allowed to. Kanaye watches Ino as she uses her green chakra to heal Kiba´s wounds. The horse owner can't help but be fascinated by her work since it´s very foreign to him. The way the man´s wounds slowly disappear looks like magic in his eyes and he finds himself starting to respect the blonde girl.

"So you found others, Nara?" Kanaye comments as he looks away from Ino.

"Yes. Isozaki Aoi brought them here together with two female Grass ninja."

"Where is he now?" Kanaye asks.

"He said he needed to find the cause behind this war and left." Shikamaru tells him. "When will the other´s arrive?"

"About now."

Just as those words leaves Kanaye´s lips does the rest of the backup arrive near the clearing. Kakashi, Yamato, Temari, Sai and Akai approaches the others.

"Kanaye, Shikamaru!" Akai shouts. "Oh...Kiba, Lee... are you alright?"

"Still breathing..." Lee smiles in a complaining voice.

"What happened?" Akai breathes with worry. "It´s not like you... to be beaten up like this..."

"Kim Jeong and Ryo is what happened." Kiba tells her sourly. "Ryo´s illusions were so eerie..."

Kiba looks almost scared as he sits in silence while Ino works on his injuries. It´s seldom the impulsive and almost as fearless ninja as Naruto shows signs of hesitation during battle and the fact that he does makes Akai feel a little nervous. She´s not supposed to be there with them since she´s in no condition to contribute to victory does stories about strong foes scare her.

"Don´t give up, backup has arrived and the situation in the village is under control. All we have to do now is to stop Naruto and make sure Sound leaves the forest forever." All I can do is speak of things I know I might not be able to help out with.

"Sweet, we can still win this thing!" Kiba smirks with appreciation.

Kiba moves his body in a way that makes his wounds hurt and this makes his medic grow angry with him. Ino curses as she consciously tends to his injuries in a little more violent manner to prove her point.

"Do you never stop doing that?" Ino complains.

"What— OUCH!" Kiba flinches.

Ino smirks in a very odd way as she looks at Kiba while using her green chakra to close the wound he just reopened.

"Gah… doggie boy just don't get hurt again!"

The team of Konoha, Grass and one Suna ninja rest for a while to give Ino a chance to heal the hurt. Their energy returns slowly but it doesn´t change the fact that a lot of the now gathered ninja are fatigued and close to their limits. Ino is also starting to take damage due to her using a lot of her chakra on others.

"We should all move out as quickly as possible. I believe that Isozaki Aoi and the others needs back up and we need to take care of the Kyuubi too."

"They´re over there." Akai tells them while pointing at a location. _Naruto..._

Akai glances in the direction of where the intense and inhuman chakra comes from and a shiver makes her body twitch visibly. She´s so worried about her friend since all the times the others talk about him they´re using low and frightened voices, almost as if they´re scared of him. Naruto isn´t himself at the moment and the thought of him hurting others without being able to stop himself makes her heart throb in her chest. He has been through a lot and she didn´t know much about it. _I´m such a bad friend...I should have been there for him more. _Akai swallow her saliva as she decides that she´ll help him from now on. Akai is brought out of her thoughts as she notices how the people around her start to move and prepare for another sprint through the forest.

"Ino, keep an eye on Akai." Kakashi orders the girl.

"Sure." She smiles warmly at me.

Shikamaru stops in his tracks as he is about to walk by Temari and the man gives her a small smile, a smile that is returned by a broader grin. The two of them hasn´t met for a long time and the shadow using man feels that the atmosphere turns into a comfortable one in Temari´s presence. She´s a lot like his bossy and loud mother but he can´t help but enjoy her company.

"Temari…" He greets her with a nod.

"Hello there lazy man. I'm surprised you're still breathing." She tells him in a friendly manner.

"It's nice to see you too." Shikamaru smirks before everyone starts moving again.

* * *

**Neji **curses mentally as he feels how his skin is once again torn up by the claws of his friend in a way that draws blood. The Hyuuga wipes it away so the liquid won´t bother him but it makes his hands get all slippery. Neji is now drained of chakra and each movement he uses to evade the aggressive Kyuubi makes his body ache due to fatigue. _I can´t take this for much longer…_White eyes glances in the Uchiha´s direction. _Neither can he. _Sasuke pants as he tries to recover from one of his chidori jutsu and even the enigma looks tired in an uncharacteristic way.

Both of them feels how the already heavy pressure around them grows as another red tail appears on the fox. A frightening roar leaves its mouth as it grows in size in front of them. Even though Neji and Sasuke are drained due to the fight doesn´t the Kyuubi seem to be affected by their attacks one bit. The fox growls and prepares to charge at them when a sound seems to catch its attention. The demon looking fox turns its head to look at some ninjas that arrived in the clearing just now. Byuakugan eyes widen at the sight. Akai._ She shouldn´t be here!_ Several different feelings swirl up inside of the Hyuuga as he sees the girl and he doesn´t know if he´s happy or not to see her. The feeling of relief enters him as he sees that the only ones that can save Naruto have arrived and gets down to business. Back up is here and he´ll be able to regain his powers shortly.

Akai doesn´t notice Neji nor Sasuke because all she can see is the large and intimidating Kyuubi that´s towering above her and the others dangerously. All of her senses are screaming that she should run away but she can´t run, not from one of her friends. Everyone around her fears the Kyuubi and their fear makes the air around them vibrate. The world is shaking. Akai inhales deeply before she looks up at the fox.

"Naruto?" Akai whispers breathlessly.

The Kyuubi growls Akai straight in the face and she feels how warm liquid, probably saliva, touches her cheek. She didn´t realise she was this close to him and the realisation makes her lose her balance somewhat. Akai manages to stay on her feet though but takes several steps backwards until she bumps into Ino.

"Akai, back away! It´s dangerous!" Ino shouts.

Akai can't move as she stands there in front of the huge animal looking demon since the power that its emitting scares her. The red chakra burns her skin, its breath makes a mess out of her hair, the size of it makes the ground shake when it moves and its growl makes the vibrations around her bounce forward, backward, upward and downward in an amazing speed. Akai has never _seen _anything like that before and it scares her in a way that paralyses her muscles. Ino jumps backward just as the Kyuubi is about to attack but Akai is too shocked to follow. A sudden force pushes her out of the way and she hits some trees close by.

"Ough!" Akai groans. It takes some time for her to realise what happened. "...Neji?"

The scent of Neji invades her senses and Akai doesn´t know what to say. The man she loves saved her and is now towering over her in a protective manner. It takes her breath away but she thinks it´s also due to almost being killed as well. She can smell the sweat on his skin due to their closeness when he leans in to talk but an iron scent catches her interest more. She touches his injured cheek and feels how blood covers her fingertips.

"You´ve to be more careful!" He hisses almost angrily in her ear.

"You´re hurt!" Akai gasps without really listening to what he told her."Ino!"

"I´m alright." Neji tells her calmly since he don´t want Ino to come at the moment because he believes she´s needed elsewhere.

Akai looks at him in silence before she takes his hand in hers, moves his arm so it´s located around her shoulders to give him support when she helps him away from the battlefield. Both of them need to get out of the way now, so they won´t become a hindrance to the others. Yamato uses his wood jutsu to entrap Naruto and force him to return to normal. The Kyuubi growls angrily and tries to break free from the wooden cage but he fails.

"Is that really Naruto?" Akai asks him.

"Yes." Neji tells her tiredly.

"One of the older Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in Naruto when he was a child to protect Konoha from its rage... "Ino comments sadly.

Ino has approached them.

"How could Konoha do this to him!" Akai roars angrily. "Just look at how much he's hurting! Is he going to be ok?"

"Yes, he heals quickly and I´m going to help him with my medic skills too. The rest is up to Kakashi and Yamato to turn him back to normal." Ino joins their conversation.

"Akai, all villages are both good and evil." Kanaye tells her wisely. "Grass isn´t as pure as it may seem, just look at what we did to Zetsu."

"I...I know." Akai answers with sadness and regret before her voice turns cold. "Is that Uchiha...Sasuke?"

A cold feeling invades Akai´s whole body as she recognises the foreign chakra as the man who almost killed her not too long ago. She tenses visibly but what surprises her is that Neji does the same but in a very different manner. Akai can almost feel how anger radiates from the Hyuuga and it makes her hate towards Sasuke change into concern for Neji. She has never seen him this upset before, something must have happened.

"You fought him?" Akai whispers. "He...is hurting Nauro too?"

Neji stays stubbornly silent as Ino chooses to reply.

"Akai, their relationship is very...special." Ino starts in a sad voice. "Sasuke just...he..."

_Uchiha Sasuke has hurt you too Ino? _Akai looks at her with sadness clear in her face. She can´t understand why Naruto fights so hard to save a friend who clearly doesn´t want to be saved and that have hurt a lot of people. The grass kunoichi is a girl that is careful not to hate people but it´s hard not to when the Uchiha is concerned.

"Can you do it?" Kakashi asks Yamamoto.

"Yes, he didn´t transform completely...we were lucky!" Yamato smiles with triumph.

Now when the situation is slowly turning better Sasuke sees the chance to flee and return to Orochimaru. The black haired crimson eyed man turns around and is about to leap into the darkness of the forest when a dirty blonde woman suddenly stands in his way.

"Hello there pretty boy."

"You, the girl from Suna."

"Nice, you remember me!" Temari chuckles with sarcasm. "Now, let's get down to business."

Shikamaru and Sai, backed up by two semi-injured Konoha ninja called Kiba and Lee, join up behind Temari and the older woman smirks broadly. She likes how this is turning out.

* * *

**Rather be one of the ones **

**That keeps on trying **

**Rather be one of the few **

**That won't stop fighting **

**Rather be one of the ones **

**That keeps surviving**

** I'll be around Stand my ground Come whatever

* * *

**

**Sasuke **lies on the ground with his face in the dirt and has a very content Temari sitting on his back with one leg crossed over the other. Sai has his hand on the Uchiha´s head to keep him from moving and Kiba kneels down and laughs the man straight in the face.

"You´ve finally get down to earth!" Kiba spits before he lays his hand on Sai´s and pushes Sasuke´s face into the ground. "Literally!"

"Kiba!" Sai warns him not to overdo it.

"Hn." Kiba snorts. "He deserved it!"

Sasuke is no longer a threat but the struggle to force Naruto back to normal is still going on. Due to fighting Naruto, Neji and Naruto in his Kyuubi form Sasuke was already tired when the others started to fight him that resulted in an easy win. Sweat cover Yamato´s face as he concentrates on his jutsu to bring the cheerful Naruto back from his demon-like state. Everyone watches in silence as the Kyuubi struggles while shrinking, hoping that everything will be alright. Kanaye is busy to calm down his frightened horse to watch what´s going on, Ino prepares herself for action with her healing tools and Akai and Neji are sitting down in the grass just watching in a tense silence. Kakashi helps Yamato to keep Naruto in check when he resists the cage-like jutsu but the Kyuubi´s strength fades quickly. The tails get fewer and fewer and the fox is slowly turning into the human they all recognise as Uzumaki Naruto. The man falls to the ground and both Kakashi and Yamato rushes forward to check on him.

"Huh, what h-happened to me dattebayo...?" Naruto whispers tiredly, a whisper that´s followed by a painful groan.

Ino rushes forward and kneels down on Naruto´s side.

"Ino, heal Naruto quickly." Kakashi orders.

"Yes!" The blonde answers seriously. "We´re here to help out Naruto, just don´t die on me ok?"

A pair of blurry and distant eyes looks at Ino as she starts to heal Naruto. The blonde guy seems to be at a loss of words but when he finds his strength to speak he asks about his former team mate. Ino´s blue eyes widen at this but she stays silent.

"Where´s...Sasuke?" Naruto whispers.

"He´s taken cared of." Kakashi tells him before he makes sure to add something due to Naruto´s eyes narrowing. "We´ll bring him back home, alive."

"Ahhh..." Naruto smiles a true smile.

"Hey, don´t faint!" Ino shouts. "Naruto! He´s just unconscious..."

Everyone smiles to themselves as Naruto is safe once again and the feeling of true success invades every single one of them. Sasuke is in their hands, Naruto is safe and the majority of the Sound army has fallen already; they can all smell victory in the air. But it´s not without losses, Grass has lost a lot more men than Sound and the bamboo forest is severely demolished.

"Is it over?" Lee asks everyone with a hint of hope and happiness in his voice. "Was this it?"

"We haven´t seen Orochimaru nor the two ninja you met earlier. We should wait before we declare ourselves the winners." Neji answers calmly. "We may have beaten... _Sasuke_, but he isn´t the only strong Sound warrior."

"Isn´t it obvious that we already won?" Kiba shouts loudly, Akamaru agrees with a bark. "Our mission is complete; we got Sasuke and helped Grass."

"I´ve a bad feeling about this..." Akai murmurs in a worried voice before it turns slightly cold.

Akai forces her tired body up from the ground and approaches her friends who are holding Sasuke. Temari regards her with interested eyes in silence but the Grass Kunoichi pretend not to notice as she squats down to face the missing ninja of Konoha. A pair of dark eyes, that from time to time turns slightly red, glares at her in a way that would scare anyone smart enough to recognise danger when you see it. It doesn´t take long before Akai feels a familiar presence behind her and it makes the girl release the breath she´s been holding. _Neji...your anger and...can I call it protectiveness? Scares me...but...thank you._

"Uchiha Sasuke, we meet again." Akai tells him rather calmly even though her heart beats like crazy in her chest. "Don´t pretend you don´t recognise me." She adds when he tries to look away.

"What?" He spits out, wanting to get it over with when Sai´s hand on his head makes him unable to look away from Akai.

"Are you proud over yourself?" She asks him bluntly.

Everyone is watching, everyone is listening as Akai talks with the man that has caused so much misery. It´s like time stands still.

"Did it feel good to hurt Naruto like this?" She gestures towards Naruto with her hand. "To hurt all these people like this?"

"Do you want me to feel guilty?" He asks Akai in an indifferent voice but there´s a hint of amusement in his voice that tells her he thinks she´s joking.

"It seems that you don´t."Akai states the fact. "No, I just wanted to see if there was a tiny bit of humanity left in you."

His eyes widen since it seems that he took that as an insult. Akai stares at him coldly while she holds back the urge to punch him, kick him, cut him and badmouth him to make him pay for all the shit he has done. The way Akai´s voice turns colder makes the ones holding Sasuke down react since they fear that things will escalate and turn out of hand. They can´t risk Sasuke escaping due to a small quarrel.

"You better not—" Sai starts to tell her but Akai doesn´t listen.

"You almost killed me some time ago and honestly, your face haunted my dreams for a long time afterwards. I was scared of you but now I realise that you´re not so intimidating after all. Not because my friends got you all tied up but because—" Akai looks him straight in the eyes."... the one who´s frightened the most is probably you. Fear itself can be a scary thing."

Sasuke seems to take that as a second insult and his eyes widen with anger for a moment before he starts to smirk.

"What a nice speech, did you write that one down?" Sasuke almost chuckles.

"I pity you, Uchiha Sasuke, I really do." Akai sighs.

She pitying someone is the worst punishment she can give a person. Akai hates being pitied and she avoids pitying others but this is a different situation where she doesn´t give a shit about the person´s feelings.

No one talks and it becomes eerily silent as everyone waits for a declaration if they should stay or return to the village. It feels like hours pass by in silence. Kiba is happy because it seems that he´s right, that they´ve won the war and can return but his happiness is soon destroyed. Sasuke makes a head movement when four very powerful chakra enters the picture all of a sudden. Orochimaru**, **Kabuto, Kim Jeong and Ryo emerge from the shadows of the forest and they come to stand not too far away from the others. The snake-looking man glares at Sasuke and the people holding him down in silence before a evil smirk graces the man´s sickly pale face.

"I´m disappointed in you, Ssssasuke." Orochimaru tells him.

"Get me out of here!" The Uchiha growls.

The air becomes ice-cold as everyone just stares at the four men who just took the victory away from them. Lee and Kiba glares at Kim Jeong and Ryo and the attention make the Korean smile and wave his hand at them.

"Watch out for his illusions!" Lee warns them as he gets into a fighting pose.

"Sssee who we have here. Did you seek us out to retrieve your friends?" Orochimaru asks them just as if they´re not about to start a fight at all.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asks him with caution.

Kabuto steps forward and makes several difficult hand signs that create a large cloud of smoke. A laud sound is heard when several people falls to the ground. Aoi, and two other Grass ninja, fall to the ground in a heap but it´s only Akai´s brother that moves to look at them. He seems to be in pain but he´s still breathing. Akai tenses as she stares at her brother with fear clear in her face.

"Brother!"

"Akai, don´t—" Neji grabs Akai´s shoulder as she´s about to run up to the older Isozaki.

Akai glares at Neji almost hatefully but his calm but somewhat sad expression makes her realise her mistake and calm down. The girl inhales slowly as guilt over glaring at Neji invades her for a moment. She focuses on her brother.

"Akai, what are you doing here?" Aoi gasps. "I´m fine... just...don´t move."

Akai stays at Neji´s side even though she wants to rush forward and get her brother out of harm´s way. Neji and Aoi keeps eye contact but Akai can´t understand what´s going on between the two men.

"But that´s not all." Kim Jeong smirks.

The Korean grunts as he throws another body in a careless way. The small body flies through the air until it hits the ground, rolls around in the dirt before it slows down and stays motionless in between the two different sides of the war. Akai flinches due to the sound but she´s not quick enough to realise who it is.

"Yoshi?" Kanaye´s eyes are wide.

Akai looks up from her brother and eyes widen as she finally, with the help of Kanaye´s statement, sees the lifeless form of her team mate in front of her. The realisation strikes her with the power of a tornado and Neji can´t hold her back any more. Kanaye and Akai rushes forward and almost throws themselves towards the man lying in the grass. Kanaye grabs Yoshi´s shoulders and shakes him but he gets no reaction whatsoever. Akai takes the Genin´s hand in hers and flinches as his cold skin makes contact with hers.

"Yoshiiiiiii!" Akai screams with fear and pain in her voice. _He´s so cold!_

Kanaye frowns as he starts to search for the younger man´s pulse. He touches Yoshi´s neck, his wrist and even at other less certain places but he feels no pulse. The horse loving man grows cold by fear as he slowly comprehends what state his team mate is in. He can´t believe it but has to confirm it since Akai stares at him with watery eyes.

"He´s... dead." Kanaye breathes with dread.

"Noooo!" Akai breaks down as her narrowed eyes dart from Kanaye to Yoshi. "Fuck, nooooooo!"

The heartbreaking scream makes everyone who hears it shiver. Aoi looks at his sister with pain and sadness in his eyes, Ino stares at the scene wide-eyed, Kiba has lost all the colour in his face, Kakashi´s eyes are wide but he shows no other sign of emotion and a certain Hyuuga stands there holding his breath. Kanaye bites his lip as he fights his emotions but Akai´s crying and moaning makes it hard for him to act strong. A rough hand touches the girl´s shoulder to comfort her silently as the only male of the now two man team gets up on his feet to stare at the Korean. The usually calm, friendly and quiet man looks like he could kill a thousand of men. Akai sits on the ground, now crying without a sound as she stares at nothing.

"Yoshi-chan did his best to act as a double spy but he couldn´t keep his nerves in check." Kim Jeong tells them with a chuckle, facing Kanaye in a very uncouth way. "He got killed."

Kanaye is about to say something when he feels how Akai´s body shakes. The hand he kept at her shoulder grabs her more firmly as the girl gets up on a pair of wobbly feet and faces the man that probably killed Yoshi. Kanaye´s eyes widen as Akai points her finger at the Korean.

"You monster!"Akai screams with fury and desperation. "I´ll kill you!"

"In the state that you´re in? I don´t think so." Kim Jeong laughs her in the face while looking at her torn up body.

"Don´t you dare underestimate me!" She growls, the anger makes her forget the pain.

Everything is going out of control. Akai can´t handle the sudden loss of a close friend and her lack of control risks the whole mission to beat Sound. Kakashi is quick to act when Akai is about to charge and he tells her something he knows will make her stop.

"Akai! Don´t do anything reckless! You said you didn´t want to become a hindrance right?" Kakashi yells loudly.

Akai stop in her tracks and starts to break down immediately.

"...!" Akai opens her mouth only to shut it again. "What should I do! I...I..."

Kanaye acts quickly when Kabuto suddenly charges at them and he gets himself and Akai out of the way. The large and slightly tanned man jumps into the air, turns around and lands on the ground behind the Konoha ninja while holding Akai´s shaking body close to him. The extra weight makes Kanaye lose his balance in the moment of the landing and he falls backward into a nearby tree.

"Gah!" He groans loudly.

"W-w-we need to get... Yoshi out of there..." Akai murmurs into his chest as if she thinks he´s still alive and in danger.

Ino is quick to kneel down next to Kanaye and Akai and helps the man by taking the girl that´s almost hyperventilating into her arms. The blonde kunoichi massages Akai´s back while whispering calm words into her ear while she checks Kanaye´s health at the same time. Their eyes meet and the quite superficial girl loses the ability to speak for a moment. It´s almost as if he has lost all hope.

"Are you alright?" She asks him. "Hey?"

"I´ll survive." He answers shortly before averting his gaze.

Ino is in charge of the hurt, and that means the mentally instable persons too and she takes her task seriously. The situation has changed once again and what seemed to be an easy victory turned into a disaster. You would be able to hear a needle fall to the ground as a staring contest takes place. No one dares to move, dares to speak or even think as several seconds pass by in an extremely heavy and uncomfortable silence.

"You´ve already lost the war. Now, give up." Yamato breaks the silence in a dry voice. It´s their final shot at evading another battle that´ll surely cost more lives.

"Lost, you ssssay? I would ssay that the battle hasss just begun!" Orochimaru grins evilly.

* * *

**AN; a lot happened in this chapter and I hope things are not moving too quickly. I wouldn´t want to be in Akai´s shoes since she´s like a zombie now. Without energy to move and fight whatsoever. I´m glad though because she finally met Neji again though! Silly me, wanting romance everywhere. Don´t worry Akai is there for a reason that will be explained in the next chapter. It must seem like she´s there without a reason at the moment, maybe? I´ve killed one of my own characters... I´m crying. So much drama... I hate myself right now.**

**Hikage Genkaku – sunshine illusion**

**Please review, I need your support.**


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Thanks for all your support! I want to thank the reviewers for keeping my interest for this story alive. **

**This story is getting to an end and I was wondering if you want a sequel or that I just…continue to add chapter to "Bad Eyesight"? **

**Please review as well, it´s you guys who keeps my spirit up!**

**Anyways, enjoy!

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**Akai **can´t describe the feeling that invades her whole being as she regard the well-known Orochimaru the seconds after he declared that things are going to get worse from now on. Everyone tenses and prepares to fight even more. Kakashi glares at the snake man with venom in his gaze, he is about to take of his headband and use his Sharingan eye. Things are getting way out of hand now and the fact that she, and a large number of the rest present at the battle field, already are heavily injured doesn´t make Akai more comfortable.

But all she can feel in this moment is pain. Pain is holding her heart in an iron grip, squeezing tightly, which makes her unable to breathe properly. _Yoshi is dead._ An intense pain in her chest makes the pale girl fight back her tears. Kanaye holds Akai close to himself as he focuses on the situation in front of them but his eyes lingers on Yoshi´s body as well. The two of them have lost a team mate, a comrade and a friend in this war so the need to end the fight is there. The wind plays with the demolished bamboo forest as the tense silence grows longer between the two foes.

"Ku ku ku." Orochimaru laughs. "Now, sssshall we get ssseriouss?"

Kim Jeong glances at the silent Ryo before he charges at Kakashi without a warning. The grey haired sensei grunts as he is forced backwards to avoid being hit by the quick and graceful Korean man. The battle has started. Kim Jeong missed Kakashi but is still able to evade Yamato´s attempt at hurting him to shield his senpai.

"Oh no." Ino complains with fear in her voice. "Guys, don´t get hurt…"

Akai´s wide eyes move to the blond woman when she touches her shoulder. Ino helps Akai, Kanaye and Aoi to move away from the battle so they join the other hurt ninjas in her care. The medic has a lot of work to do and the sweat on her forehead and her slightly shaking hands show that she´s running out of energy. A soft gasp leaves her lips when Kanaye suddenly is up on his feet and prepares to fight. He turns to look at her as if he knew she was going to tell him to stay.

"I´m not injured." He states the fact bluntly before leaving to fight.

Ino stands there looking at his back since she was unable to say anything. The wind grows stronger and her long hair turns messy. She has never seen a man walked into a fight with eyes like Kanaye´s. He is prepared to fight even though he already lost a lot.

"You might not be physically injured but your emotions…" She murmurs while looking away from his intense stare. "Don´t fight. That´s an order as a Medic."

Ino looks up at him again and stops the Grass ninja when he is about to say something.

"Don´t risk it. It´s not worth it." Ino glances at Akai and Aoi before she looks up at Kanaye."Stay and let me heal you then, if they need back up later, I won´t stop you from going."

Kanaye nods after a while of silence.

The turn in battle makes everybody turn their focus towards Kim Jeong. Sasuke grunts when the weight on him gets lighter as Temari gets up to join the action. Sai is still there though so the Uchiha can´t run but his surveillance is getting weaker. Sasuke stays silent. Kim Jeong´s loud laughter echoes in the clearing as he jumps backwards to avoid Kakashi´s punches. It´s clear that Kakashi is way stronger than the Korean but strength is nothing when you can´t hit your target. Kakashi frowns as he reaches for his headband but a sudden change in the environment startles him. The destroyed forest turns back to normal and the Sharingan user can swear that he hears his dead team mates´ laughter for a moment. Eyes widen. _What´s this? _Everything turns dark and cold around him and he forces himself to stop running.

"Senpai!" Yamato shouts since he can´t understand why Kakashi stopped for no reason. "What´s wrong?"

Eyes widen again when an earth shaking vibration moves through Yamato. The colors vanish and all hope he held close to his chest disappears in that moment. A thud can be heard as he falls to his knees in the dirt.

"An illusion?" He murmurs, glancing towards Orochimaru.

But it´s not Orochimaru who has them under his spell; it´s Ryo. The big man stands there motionless as he stares at his two victims, forcing them to accept the darkest parts of their hearts. Yamato´s eyes roll around in his head as he tries to fight the genjutsu. The wind around them grows violent as Temari uses her huge fan to make the Sound ninja lose their balance. The dirty blonde girl grins widely as she receives a stare from Ryo who is clearly annoyed by her interference.

"Oh no you won´t." She tells him smiling. "It´s time to do some damage!"

The woman uses her wind to leave the ground behind as she floats on her fan towards the Sound shinobi in a quick speed. Kakashi and Yamato, who are now free from the darkness illusion, are quick to act as back up for the Suna kunoichi. The three of them charges violently and the attack even makes Orochimaru take cover. The wind cuts the Korean man´s face while Ryo takes several steps backwards to avoid falling to the ground. Kakashi attacks when they´re occupied and manages to take Kim Jeong down with his Chidori. The sound of thousands of birds can be heard while the warmth of the attack burns skin. Temari gets knocked backwards when Kabuto and Orochimaru decides it´s enough. The girl from Suna flies through the air but manages to land on her feet further away.

"Temari!" Shikamaru seems worried as he runs up to her.

The pony tailed man puts his hand on her shoulder as he regards her while looking for injuries. The blond girl frowns as she exhales deeply. She´s happy he´s worried about her but he thinking that she can´t defend herself is even more hurtful than the Sound´s attack.

"Geh, Shika… I´m not made of glass." Temari comments.

Shikamaru looks puzzled for a moment before he smirks as well. She hasn´t changed, not at all. The two of them hurries to join the fight again where Kabuto has started to deliver heavy hits with his sharp knives used for surgery. Blood colors the grass red, sweat makes the air smell and their movements destroy the landscape even more. This is just the start.

* * *

**The **earth under them vibrates as the battle further away continues. All the injured shinobi regards it from their spot under the still living trees while Ino moves around healing them one by one. The atmosphere is really heavy and uncomfortable.

"Lee, how are you feeling?" Ino asks him.

"Better." He smiles weekly.

The green beast accepts the water Ino offers him and drinks it slowly. He´s tired and torn but his mind is wide awake. The bushy browed man looks at the people around him and sighs due to the heavy atmosphere. People are dead, others are grieving or hurt…and the battle is far from over. Lee looks at the cup in his hands while he hears how Ino talks with someone further away. Lee sighs to himself but looks up when he feels a familiar presence approach him.

Lee regards his team mate as the white eyed man sits down next to him. He´s about to greet him but decides not to when he notices the expression on the Hyuuga´s face. He looks eerily pale while the bruises and cuts on his face are turning purple as he stares at something further away. Lee tilts his head so he can see what Neji is so absorbed in and he frowns as he realizes everything. Neji is regarding Akai and her brother Aoi from a distance. The Isozaki siblings are both severely hurt, Aoi more than Akai, but their managing the pain together. Lee feels how his chest tightens as he notices that Akai is crying silently. He has never seen Akai cry or show weakness before so the sight catches his attention and probably Neji´s too.

Lee looks away for a while before he voices his opinion. "You should do something about it."

Neji looks at Lee in silence before he answers calmly. "I know." But he don´t move an inch from his place under the bamboo trees. He can just watch how an important person to him is hurting over something he had no chance to affect. She´s always hurting, he thinks, and he´s always too weak to protect her from that pain. Neji frowns as he looks away and takes a deep breath. His emotions are affecting him more than ever before and he knows Akai is the source of all his pain, anger and irritation. She is the reason why he wanted to murder Uchiha Sasuke. She is the reason for many things. A deep breath leaves Neji´s slightly parted lips. He looks tired when Ino kneels down next to him to tend to his injuries.

"Do you want some painkillers, senpai?"

"Yes, thank you." He answers politely. "Ino, I think Isozaki needs help."

Ino tenses at the name but is quick to understand that he means Aoi instead of Akai since he no longer calls her by her family name. She nods as he gives him the pills and a glass of water and is quick to get up on her feet and move towards the two Grass siblings. It seems that Ino is also worried about the Isozakis. Neji and Lee regards how their blonde kouhai starts to work on the Isozaki brother while Akai just sits there. Neji can see that she´s fine on the outside, just some scratches and bruises but the girl is very physically and emotionally exhausted. The stoic Hyuuga wants to comfort her so badly. He wants to embrace her and take all her pain away but she would certainly not accept that from him in this moment. Not here, not now and not in front of all these people. Neji clutches his hands tightly.

The injured ninja can´t relax for long because the battle not too far away from them is getting out of control. Orochimaru has joined the battle as well.

* * *

**The **atmosphere grows heavier with all the strong chakra gathering in the air. The sky has turned grey, the wind is cold and strong and the first drops of rain falls to give the dry soil new nutrition. The rain pours down making the ground slippery and damp but the fighting don´t notice. Their breaths turn into clouds of mist due to the cold as they breathe heavily due to exhaustion.

"Is that all you´ve got?" Kim Jeong teases them with a broad smirk.

The Korean man is now covered in cuts and blood but he has a lot more to give. Ryo looks like he hasn´t been fighting at all, just like Orochimaru, while Kabuto also received some blows earlier. Temari curses as she notices how her legs are shaking. The Suna kunoichi knows she soon will reach her limit but that doesn´t change the fact that she´ll continue fight until she do reach that limit.

"Heh." She chuckles. "You´re ready for more little man?"

"You don´t have to ask."

The two collides both evading the other´s attack with their weapons. Kim Jeong´s smile fades when he realizes that Temari is stronger than him physically and forces him to take several steps back to support his own weight. A gasp leaves his lips when something takes a hold of his legs and makes him unable to move. Wide eyes glance downward and widen even more when he sees how his and somebody else´s shadows acts strangely. Temari sighs with disappointment when she realizes that Shikamaru stepped in to help her but shrugs her shoulders and tries to finish the Korean off. A battle cry leaves her mouth as she swings her fan at Kim Jeong violently. The sound of the rain makes the sound blood painting the grass red less audible.

"Ngh…" Kim Jeong is now severely hurt.

Ryo, who has been fighting with Kakashi for a while, looks at his time mate in silence before he does nothing. The red head won´t save the Korean and it seems like neither Kabuto nor Orochimaru plans to move a limb for the hurt man´s sake. Kim Jeong starts to cough blood when a second hit from Temari´s fan hits him in the chest and Shikamaru let´s him fall to the ground. The shadow, which was weakened due to the bad weather, moves on the ground until it´s back to normal again. Shikamaru sighs loudly as he scratches his head.

"That was troublesome…" He murmurs lazily but his expression changes when Temari falls to the ground. "Temari-!"

"I´m fine!" She mutters when the younger man reaches her side. "Just exhausted."

"Shikamaru, take Temari to Ino!" Kakashi orders. "We need your shadow possession jutsu!"

"Yes!"

Shikamaru looks down at Temari with a deep frown since he knows she won´t like this. After a deep sigh the smart ninja kneels down and takes a hold of her before he runs towards Ino carrying the older Suna kunoichi bridal style. Everything happens quickly so Temari has no time to complain at all. Ino meets them near the trees and she is quick to start healing Temari while SHikamaru returns to the battlefield without another word.

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**Naruto **is so tired and keeping his eyes open becomes a burden. His aching body won´t let him fall asleep though so watching is all he can do at this moment. The blonde sighs deeply as he leans towards a bamboo tree. A small smirk grows on his lips as he hears how Temari curses over Shikamaru´s actions he can clearly see her love for the other even though it might turn into a love and hate relationship later. Blue eyes get darker as he regards Sasuke. The dark haired Uchiha is laying on the ground with one of Sai´s painted lions on top of him while the artist regards the battle with an indifferent expression on his pale face. Naruto has finally managed to get Sasuke back even though it´s still just in person and not at heart. The Uchiha hasn´t bothered to look his way even once but Naruto won´t let that get to him because he is so happy. He closes his eyes and sighs deeply.

"Naruto."

Naruto opens his eyes again and comes face to face with Akai. Eyes widen a little before he smiles warmly at her pale face. The girl sits down next to him in silence so Naruto wonders what she wanted but is too tired to ask her about it.

"Are you okay?" She asks tiredly at last.

"Yeah, I´ll survive dattebayo…" He smiles. "But you look like shit."

"I… guess so…" She murmurs before she smiles back at him." I´m glad that you´re ok. I was worried about you because… it looked like it hurt."

Naruto´s expression changes when he realizes that Akai is talking about his Kyuubi form. He never really told her about him being the host of the Kyuubi so he feels slightly bad about it. Akai doesn´t seem to be afraid of him now so he doesn´t take it badly either. Naruto doesn´t know what to say to her since he knows of her loss and is confused over why she suddenly wanted to talk with him. Wouldn´t she rather be with her brother…or Neji?

"Why are you talking about this?" Naruto asks her hesitantly.

Naruto hears how Akai exhales deeply.

"…I don´t want to lose another friend." She answers bluntly. "So next time this happens, please… don´t go out there alone."

"…" Naruto is slightly surprised. "Akai…Thank you. Ehm… I´ll try to be there for you too, bayo."

The two friends smiles weakly at each other with a large amount of pain behind their expression. Their friendship is getting stronger even in the most dangerous situations and they´ve come to a place where both accept the other fully. _Maybe that´s why Akai wanted to talk with me? _Naruto can´t help but feel happy about it. A new presence behind them makes them turn around to look at a certain Hyuuga. Naruto notices how Akai tenses a bit.

"Are you alright?" He asks Naruto and Akai.

"I´m good!" Naruto smiles at him. "Mission complete…well, it will be soon." He looks at the battle field.

Akai meets Neji´s gaze boldly when he looks at her but her weakness shines through.

"I´m surviving but I think I´m still in denial." Akai smiles weakly. "I´ll probably… break down again when all this is over. Sorry for being this weak guys. I can´t handle it as well as I want to…Are you ok?"

Akai can´t see Neji´s injuries but a lot of signs tell her that he´s injured as well. Like his body language, his way of speech and the way he put all his weight on his right leg. _Why did things turn out like this? _She wonders.

"You´ll manage to get over it." He tells her, not answering her question. "I know you´re strong enough."

"…Thanks. As some wise men once said: hardships make you stronger." She looks at him. "But you need to survive to achieve that strength." And she turns her gaze to the battlefield.

* * *

**Blood **keeps on drenching the now damp ground with a read stench. Kakashi squints when blood makes his vision go blurry. His Sharingan eye is focused on the heavily breathing Kabuto that´s leaning against a rock some meters away. He has managed to hurt the spy severely and the Konoha ninja believes the other man won´t be able to stand his ground for much longer. Kabuto curses under his breath as Kakashi charges at him once again because he has lost the strength to defend himself properly. A grunt leaves his lips as metal cuts his body in several places but he manages to jump back in time to avoid a vital hit. He glances at orochimaru who stands unmoving in the shadows as he is at a safe distance from Kakashi. _We´re losing this battle… _

Kim Jeong is struggling to keep breathing while he´s slowly bleeding to death on enemy territory but Ryo is still able to fight on. His stamina is amazingly great as he continues to deliver punches and kicks that will force you into unconsciousness in one hit. But great power and strength often means that the person is slow and that´s the case. The Konoha ninja manages to avoid his head on attacks to escape with minor bruises. Ryo can no longer use his illusions due to Kakashi´s ability to foresee his attacks so he just continues on like a machine.

Kiba, who insisted on fighting even though Ino forbade him to, wipes away blood from his swollen lip before he attacks head on. Ryo´s eyes glows in the darkness as he notices this and swings his powerful arms towards him. Since Kiba was hit before he´s able to evade it and delivers a kick to the bigger man´s stomach. Ryo doesn´t move an inch but the opening Kiba created makes Yamato able to back him up with a more powerful attack. The united force of Kiba and Yamato sends Ryo backwards in a violent manner.

Orochimaru frowns from the shadows. He´s slowly realizing that it´s a losing battle and even he knows when to withdraw even though he would surely be able to do heavy damage to Grass by himself. But doing damage is not the same as getting the scroll. As if he read Orochimaru´s mind Kakashi speaks up.

"Withdraw or we´ll show no mercy!" He warns the snakeman.

"Mercccy?" Orochimaru repeats with sarcasm.

Everyone stops to listen since Orochimaru´s words will decide whether or not this battle will continue. The slowly dying Korean glances at the man with a plea in his gaze. He needs to be saved because he can´t die here, he doesn´t want to die now. Kabuto is also suffering from injuries that can become fatal so that leaves Ryo the only lapdog of Orochimaru´s that can still fight. Orochimaru glares at Kakashi and if glares could kill he would have killed the man three times now. Kakashi glares back boldly while his hand reaches out for a kunai in his pockets.

"Surrender now." Kakashi tells him.

The leader of Sound snorts loudly. The thought of him giving up is alien to Orochimaru but the fact that he won´t get what he came here to take is crystal clear now. Why risking hurting oneself in a war when he won´t get the scroll no matter what happens?

"This issss not the end." Orochimaru warns them in a horrible voice. "Just the beginning."

And the Sound ninja starts to retreat. A certain Korean struggles when no one comes to help him leave. The man that was so full of confidence before is about to cry like a baby when he understands that they´re leaving him behind. The light in his eyes fades as his hope does the same.

"…O-orochimaru-sama…" Kim Jeong stutters weakly.

The Konoha, Grass and Suna ninja gets up on their feet as they all watch how Sound is retreating. None of them trusts their backs and the thought of them turning around with a new raid makes them grab their weapons. The sound of the rain, Kim Jeong´s moaning and their own heartbeat echoes around the still living warriors until the backs of Orochimaru, Ryo and Kabuto disappears in the distance. Kakashi sighs deeply as he finally relaxes. Yamato gasps with relief alongside many others. It´s finally over. Someone starts yelling due to happiness.

"Ino, bind and heal him." Kakashi orders Ino to heal Kim Jeong. "Someone secure Sasuke as well."

That happiness fades a fraction when Sai makes a frightening discovery. His creation, that kept Uchiha Sasuke at bay, growls when the body it sat on suddenly disappears in smoke. Sai´s eyes widen and he turns ice-cold. _Uchiha Sasuke has escaped, or was he captured to start with?_ Kakashi looks at Sai in silence but that silence says more than words can. None of them dares to look in Naruto´s direction.

It was too good to be true.

* * *

**The** war ended and the small country called Grass is once again safe, for now. The capital of Grass sustained heavy damage containing destroyed landscapes, buildings and deaths leaving physical and emotional scars on its population and visitors. Scars will heal with time but some will never heal completely and even if they do the memory of them will haunt you all your life.

But one good thing came out of all of that. The Konoha-Suna-Grass Alliance was established and the warriors started to prepare a great feast to celebrate.

Akai looks bitter as she watches how the towns people prepares the party around her. He is pissed because she can´t see why they should celebrate. A lot of people have died and the memory of Yoshi´s lifeless body won´t let her smile. Their mission was a failure. Sure they won the war and protected the scroll but Uchiha Sasuke managed to escape in the end. Akai glances at her friends standing close to her.

This is no victory, this was a war.

Akai is depressed but the fact that her friends from Konoha will leave as soon as the party ends is still not as obvious to her as it is to Neji. Her time with him is coming to an end.

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**AN: I hope you liked it. I wanted it to be bittersweet so I hoped that worked out. I´m not really good with describing battles so use your imagination as well. Haha!**

**Anyways, please read and review!**


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: sorry for the slow update but my motivation for this story is kinda low. I love the story but it´s hard to write when I know what´s up ahead. I also dare to blame school and all the pressure my lecturers put on me . **

**You loyal reviewers and readers out there: thank you!**** Sometimes I get this long ones that makes me stay happy for a whole week. That´s so Amazing. It´s hard to describe how that makes me feel… haha. It´s also fun to get reviews even though I updated really long ago… *guilty* So to ease my own guilt I wrote a long chapter full of fluff. **

**This chapter will be the end, but also de beginning, if you know what I mean. It´s the last day for Akai to spend time with her friends before they return home, will something happen between her and Neji at last? Or will the chance be lost?**

**Enjoy! **

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**Akai** cries freely as she, Kanaye and the other Grass ninja cover Yoshi´s pale body with soil as they´re saying farewell to their team mate and friend. Some of the villagers are helping out to lower the coffin into the ground in a painful silence. Kanaye touches Akai gently and offers her his shoulder to cry on which she accepts without hesitation. She never cries like this in front of people but she can´t keep her strong façade up when one of her childhood friend and team mate´s dead and pale body is down under. She would be more ashamed if she didn´t cry at all. Kanaye´s strong hands hold her close to him as he hides his own tears. The horse-loving man is hurting as well but he let them fall without a sound of sobbing.

A large part of Grass´ population is now lost and the small nation has to start over once again. Their ground was once again used as a battlefield but not for other´s war this time but fo their own struggle for freedom. Everyone was fighting for Grass, peace and justice this time so all the deceased did not die in vain because the alliance was signed. Grass is now a safer place than before. They died an honorable death as shinobi but that doesn´t make it less painful for their families, friends and team mates who has to stay behind and remember.

The foreign shinobi from Konoha and Suna are standing further away showing their respect for all the deceased. Everyone is wearing black and white bandages showing their own injuries from the battle a few days ago. Even though they didn´t know half of the dead does the Grass ninjas´ over-powering sadness affect them as well. It´s not often they get to stand in the outskirts of an almost demolished village praying for the dead. That´s something no one wishes to happen. It happens quite often in a world full of ninja villages…

"I hate this kind of stuff." Kiba voices his thoughts.

The young man is standing far in the back together with his dog and friends. He looks slightly paler than usual, probably due to a heavy blood loss, but is still there to support Grass and his fellow ninja. The other Konoha ninja doesn´t reply since most of them are too focused on what´s going on in front of them but a certain Suna ninja heard him complain and smirks down at him.

"What are you sayin´ doggie-boy?" Kankoru comments, making the younger man look up with surprise. "Not man enough to show your feelings?"

"I ain´t seeing you crying." Kiba snorts back at him, showing his fangs.

"Hn." Kankuro turns serious as he turns to regard the scene in front of him. The sigh of crying families make him frown. "It will take a long while before this village is back to normal again."

"But with the help of Konoha and Suna, it will." Kiba assures him and himself.

"You can say that again." Kankuro grins broadly.

The two of them shakes hands in silence before they focus on the ceremony once again. The Grass´ leader Yamamoto keeps a speech where he grieves all men and women he lost in the war, praises the ones who stayed to fight and assures the villagers that things will return back to normal again. No, Better than normal because a new alliance has been formed which will keep them more than safe in the future. He dismisses every one and tells them to prepare for some rough weeks of rebuilding the village.

* * *

**The **task of rebuilding Grass started the day after the big funeral and everyone helps out to make the life of the people easier. Even the Konoha and Suna ninja decided to stay and help for a day or two to help out and rest after the war. Their presence of them makes the villages happy since they are all radiating a promise of protection and safety. The reconstruction of the village has started and their first priority is to make sure everyone has a home to return to, that everyone can get food and water and get the society back together again.

Yamamoto decided to keep a festival in Grass to honor the dead and the ones fighting in the war in two days. It´s a way for him to keep his people´s hope up and give happiness to those who has lost everything. A lot of people smile as they speak of it when they´re working with heavy labor but a certain Grass kunoichi can´t relax.

Akai sighs as she takes a rest from her work: gathering the fallen bricks from houses so they can be reused. Sweat can be seen on her forehead but she is quick to wipe it off her skin. It has been a long and rough day and her whole body is aching due to the labor. She, together with Kanaye and Ino, are working on the same station where she and Ino gathers brick and Kanaye uses two of his clan´s horses to transport them to the location of one of the new house. Akai flinches as she feels how Ino sits down next to her, she smiles.

"Good work, girl friend!" Ino beams happily before her voice turns sour. "This so boring though…"

"I agree on that." Akai snorts.

The two young women enjoys how the strong sunlight warms their as skin as they sit there on the newly built fence. The strong breeze plays with their long hair. The frequent sound of horses makes Akai aware of her team mate´s presence in front of them and a sudden change in Ino´s breathing makes her think. The kunoichi has for some time thought that something is going on between Kanaye and Ino but none of them has talked to her about it. It´s like there is this attraction going on between them and Akai knows when Kanaye regards someone with interest or not because he is never thrilled to hang with new people. Ino, on the other hand, has no problems when she speaks with him. She´s not like the other girls he rejected in the past. Ino sighs dreamily.

"Let me guess…he just took off his shirt?" Akai comments with a big grin on her pale lips.

"W-w-hat!" Ino is taken by surprise and tries to seem ignorant. "Who?"

"You´re so obvious." Akai laughs as she leans back to enjoy the wind caressing her face.

"You´re not the one to talk! Kanaye is so good looking! Broad shoulders, big hands and just look at those abs! Oh, maybe you can´t see them? " Ino is quick to counter attack when she decides it´s time for some payback.

"I´ve never really looked at Kanaye that way so…I don´t know. He is all yours." Akai answers, silently happy about it.

Ino regards her friend as Akai lies there stretching. A small and gentle smile graces the blonde´s pink lips. Both of them seem to have some kind of problem with men.

"You´ve been avoiding Neji lately right?" She asks Akai softly.

"…Not really." Akai answers awkwardly and makes sure not to talk too much about the Hyuuga that has been on her mind a lot lately. "I think you would look nice with Kanaye. Just don´t act too clingy ok? He dislikes that."

"Roger!" Ino is quick to forget to ask about Neji when Akai speaks of her instead.

The sound of Ino´s laughter makes Akai smile as well. She hasn´t been avoiding him, he has just been busy with regaining his strength and helping out lately. Everyone has been tired after the war and a large number of shinobi was in need of medical attention when they returned. Things like this takes time and Akai would feel strange if she hung out with Neji when she should be doing other things that are more important for her village. _That sounds like one big excuse doesn´t it?_ Akai doesn´t really know how she should act around him right now since there are things she really want to do but shouldn´t do due to their circumstances.

"You know about the festival right?" Ino changes subject.

"I do know but I don´t feel like going." Akai shrugs her shoulders as she sits up again.

"Why?" Ino´s eyes widen. "Festivals are so nice and we´ll get a chance to relax too!"

"So many died…I just don´t feel like celebrating." Akai comments while she´s thinking of Yoshi.

Ino´s expression softens a little as she notices the way Akai´s mood changes in front of her. The Grass ninja has lost someone dear to her and is of course grieving but that should not stop her from trying to get better and have some fun. That´s the only way Akai would be able to relax and enjoy herself in times of despair, Ino knows this, so she won´t let her friend stay behind and suffer by herself.

"You have to go." Ino orders her sternly.

Eyes narrow a little. "You can´t force me blondie." Akai tells her with a challenging smirk.

"Heh, do it for Yoshi-san." She tells her, as if she has no intension of forcing her at all. "Do it in his honor and in everybody else´s. I know your pain Akai, but you´re just making it worse. He wouldn´t like seeing you like this, would he?"

Somehow Ino knew exactly what was going through Akai´s mind and she wonders if the Yamanaka girl would get a great career as a shrink. She feels that it would be wrong to smile and laugh with friends when so many people are suffering, but maybe it´s the opposite? She should smile because it would make the ones suffering able to smile a little as well? Akai´s expression is clouded as she thinks about it for a while. She tilts her head to the left as she feels how Kanaye approaches them.

"She is right." He tells Akai which makes her sigh a little: _why does he take her side? _A smile grows on her lips. _This just proves my theory…_

"Kanaye-san." Ino looks up at Akai´s team mate.

Akai can´t help but roll her eyes as Ino and Kanaye possibly are staring at each other. The two of them should just start dating already.

"Everybody should help to prepare for it and come. We need to celebrate the fact that we survived the war and the start of this new alliance." He looks at Ino softly. "It´s our duty to act strong to get the village back together. That´s the only thing we can do right now."

"Yes…I understand Kanaye…" Akai nods before she shows them her tongue. "Geez the both of you sound like professionals, talking like that and all."

Akai dropped the honorific with Kanaye after what happened because the two of them has gotten a lot closer recently and it would feel strange to add a –san. The older man seems to think the same way about her as well. Akai has never been this comfortable around him before and she actually thinks it´s because of the war. She got some good things out of all the pain after all. Maybe people can get stronger after facing hardships like Neji once told her? Akai chuckles to herself. Her two friends are right: she should go to the festival with them.

"And I know a certain Hyuuga would love to see you in a kimono." Ino smirks.

Kanaye grins as Akai gets completely red in the face at the sudden statement made by Ino.

"Ino…no you don´t—!" Akai starts to complain.

* * *

**Akai **can´t help but feel silly when Ino forces her to sit still in front of a mirror even though he swore not to let the girl do this to her. It hurts her pride, a lot. The blonde kunoichi is preparing the Grass ninja´s hair and make up with a passion Akai hasn´t seen before. Akai is wearing a long sleeved light green kimono with glistering golden details. Her hair is pulled up into a nice bun where a lovely golden hairpin decorates her head. Akai is a little bitter since her mother told her she had thrown away her old kimono but the truth was that she saved it for an event like this. Ino made sure to give her face a little color and a small blush-looking hint of red on her cheeks when she put on the make up for her friend. Akai looks almost normal, for once, but suddenly being _normal_ is quite _different_ to her.

Ino is already dressed, she wears a purple kimono with pink details, and her long blonde hair up in a bigger and more elegant bun than Akai´s. Her lips are rosy, her eyes sparkle and her skin looks flawless. The girl pouts as she covers a small scar on Akai´s face with some sort of make up Akai doesn´t know about. Ino looks like a model and she is also aware of that since she has been into fashion since she was a young girl. Dressing plainly on a night like this is a big no-no to her.

Tenten is wearing a golden Chinese dress with brown details on, details such as dragons and clouds. It´s tight and shows her quite feminine forms nicely. Her hair is down for once and brown wavy curls fall down her shoulders. The Chinese girl looks really nice when she decides to actually dress up but she doesn´t seem that comfortable though because she is little of a tomboy. Tenten is currently sitting in the sofa while Temari using one of her smaller fans to cool their tea down.

The older woman is dressed in a grown up but sexy dark blue kimono showing of some skin that some of the other girls don´t even have. Her hair is down and a red flower decorates her hairstyle. Temari´s style is more mature and courageous and it´s clear that she wants attention from the opposite sex. Or just a certain lazy strategist.

Hinata wears a very cute kimono in white and silver colors that makes her eyes stand out even more than they already do. She looks very pure and sweet especially with her long hair slightly curled at the ends. She wears almost no make up at all since she insisted on being natural. Akai doesn´t understand why Ino agreed when she is forcing her to wear all that crap that makes her face weight a ton!

Sakura is there as well even though neither Akai or Ino wants her there but they couldn´t invite everybody except her either so they invited her and Matsuri as well. Sakura is wearing a white kimono with pink detailed sakura petals on while Matsuri chose a quite plain light blue one because the one she wants to impress isn´t here. Akai think she heard something about that Matsuri liked the current Kazekage who couldn´t be here since he was needed to rule Suna.

"You´ll look awesome after I´m done with you!" Ino sounds certain as she puts some kind of cream on Akai´s cheeks.

"Why should I care about this stuff when I can´t see it myself?" Akai mutters darkly, hiding the fact that she excited about her make over. It´ll be her first time looking somewhat normal…

"You l-l-ook pretty." Hinata comments shyly as she looks at Akai over Ino´s shoulder.

Hinata smiles as she thinks of how her cousin will react when he sees her. The younger Hyuuga knew Neji was serious about Akai the time he rushed away from home to join the first back up squad to Grass. His eyes spoke volumes when she mentioned Isozaki. Hinata´s eyes sparkle as she looks at Akai, the Hyuuga girl is really happy over the change she brought to Neji and might bring to the whole Hyuuga clan if everything turns out ok. The smile fades a little as she realizes that it won´t be so easy for them. Hinata forces herself to smile again though, since she wants to believe they will be alright. All that is left is that one of them make a move.

"You´re all making me so self conscious…" Akai murmurs bitterly to herself.

"We´re forcing you to act like a girl for once, Isozaki." Sakura comments with a polite smile. "You look nice! People will stop and stare for the right reasons now."

Both Ino and Akai hold their breath but decide not to say anything at all. Akai feels slightly irritated over the situation but she has decided to try to have fun tonight because it´s the last time she can hang out with her friends from Konoha and new acquaintances from Suna. Something about Sakura and her way of acting around her is a bother but she won´t make their relation awkward by telling her that like she usually would. Everyone can´t be comfortable around someone like her, Akai knows that, but she thinks Sakura should have gotten used to it by now. Sakura is always picking the wrong words when she wants to comfort Akai.

"I wish Gaara could have been here to see this." Matsuri comments all of a sudden, she looks like she is daydreaming about a date with the young Kazekage.

"I agree." Temari tells her. "We need him to see Grass one day."

Matsuri meant her kimono but she doesn´t correct her senpai due to embarrassment. She has no clue what Gaara´s older sister would think if she started to date him. The girl sighs to herself as she helps herself to get some tea.

Akai feels how she smiles as she listens to the girls as they talk about random things such as guys, clothes, fights and relationships. Her room, or the Isozaki household, has never been this crowded before. Akai´s room used to be her sanctuary and hers alone but it feels eerily nice to be there with people she more or less consider her friends. Her family was also lucky since their house didn´t get destroyed during the battles.

"I wish Kumori could be here too.." Akai murmurs.

"Kumori?" Ino repeats.

"My landlord in Konoha, I miss her." Akai comments a little sadly.

"Don´t sound so depressed!" Ino comments. " You can always come and visit!"

Akai nods to her blonde friend. She has to visit Konoha in the future no matter what happens tonight. Ino nudges her cheek a little before she steps back to watch her creation. Akai feels awkward when she waits for the girl to say if she´s ok or not.

"You look awesome! We´re done so let´s move out girls. We have to make this a night to remember!" Ino exclaims loudly almost as if he knows what Akai is thinking.

* * *

**The** sun is slowly disappearing at the horizon as the girls leave the Isozaki household, after Akane forced them to have some more tea and cookies, and head into the night. The lack of noise makes Akai believe that her two brothers left already. Akai finds it hard to walk in her tight kimono and the fact that skill to rely on her sight makes it worse. Ino even forced her to wear high heel sandals which worsens her balance but makes it way easier for her to _see_ with her ears instead. Ino realizes this and grabs her arm in a friendly manner.

"You´ve to make Neji-san lead you later ok?" Ino whispers in Akai´s ear.

"What?" Akai turns irritated since Ino is consciously making her blush all the time. "Stop it Ino!"

"You know what I mean." She turns serious. "You know this is your last night so don´t leave things unsaid."

Akai feels how her chest starts to hurt at Ino´s words. She knows that all of them will return to their villages tomorrow morning but she doesn´t want to think about it yet. She won´t be able to relax if she did. _Neji… _Akai sighs deeply as she tries to return to her usual quite happy self.

"Yeah…I know…" She murmur quietly and Akai is not sure if she heard her.

The group of girls is all walking towards the decided meeting place in a comfortable pace. Akai enjoys the sound of laughter and the feeling of belonging in this kind of gathering. She is very comfortable among her friends and it makes her realize how badly she felt before she met them, when she was hated and all alone. She had no clue that she would meet such wonderful friends in her trip to Konoha. She´s a lucky girl. Akai´s silent pleasure is interrupted when Sakura sees the others a little further up the road.

"There they are!" Sakura yells suddenly.

Akai follows the flow as the girls change direction to meet the guys who promised to meet them close to the entrance of the festival. The Grass ninja feels how her stomach turns as they reach the others because she can´t help but feel a little uncomfortable about being with men dressed like this. It´s not the same as her usual clothes and the make up on her face makes her all self-conscious. Akai has never dressed up like this before so she doesn´t know how to act properly.

"Whyyyy?" Ino exclaims loudly.

_What is wrong? _Akai wonders as she tries to figure it out by opening her eyes and squint at the men in front of her. It doesn't help much though because her vision is even worse during the night and all she can see is shadows of people who she thinks are her friends. Ino seems to be really upset about something and Akai is eager to know what made her act like that.

"What?" Naruto comments in confusion.

"Why aren´t you wearing the traditional clothing as well?" Ino asks them loudly, almost whining, and the reason why she is upset is crystal clear.

A sigh leaves Akai´s lips as she thinks that Ino is a little silly. She thought something terrible happened and not that the men were wearing the wrong kind of clothes…Akai flinch a little as a mental image of Neji in a summer yukata enters her mind. He would probably look so good wearing one together with his long hair lose. _Stop thinking! I´ll give myself a nosebleed!_ Akai tells herself. She has only seen Neji properly once or twice when he allowed her to touch his face but she knows that he´s handsome. And handsome men wearing traditional clothes become even more handsome… Akai avert her gave and looks at the ground. She doesn´t even know where Neji is right now.

"It would be too troublesome to walk around in." Shikamaru comments rudely while eying Temari.

"I agree on that!" Akai comments wryly as she tries to act normally.

Temari eyes Shikamaru too and smirks as she notices how he is looking at her. A small blush can be seen at the lazy ninja´s cheeks as he avert his eyes and mutters something like _annoying women_ under his breath. All flirting goes by unnoticed by the ignorant Akai but the rest of the gang chuckles softly as everyone checks each others out.

"Well we didn´t think of bringing my yukata since we were at war." Kiba exclaims with a shrug of his shoulders.

Hinata seems disappointed over the fact that Naruto still wears his ordinary orange clothes but she stays silent about it.

"Wow, you girls look pretty..!" Naruto comments while blushing slightly.

Hinata´s disappointment is replaced by a severe blush and she hides beneath her fringe pointing her fingers together shyly. Naruto chuckles loudly to himself. The others guys join him in an embarrassed manner. The sound of everyone´s laughing makes Akai quite irritated because she feels left out. All she can see is misty spots of colors so she doesn´t understand what´s so funny about the way they are all looking.

"Well I wouldn´t know." Akai comments sarcastically with a smirk while trying to change topic.

"You look stunning as well Akai, right Neji?" Lee suddenly jumps in with a big smile on his lips as he armbows his team mate teasingly.

Akai tenses and lose her confident smirk immediately and it feels like the world stopped spinning. She has never felt more uncomfortable in her whole life! She can´t breathe and feeling how Ino tenses as well doesn´t make her feel better. _Why did Lee have to say it like that?__ Because Gai-sensei once talked about the power of youth?_Akai closes her eyes. _Now it´ll be so awkward to be near Neji…_

Neji got surprised by the question, he can´t lie about that. The Hyuuga is standing a little further in the back of the crowd of friends and he wondered what the fuss was about when the girls arrived. It irritated him but he understood the guys when he saw them as well. Or not _them_ but _her_. Akai is standing there between Ino and his team mate with a small frown on her face. _Her face._ White eyes widened for a fraction when he first laid his eyes on her. She is as pale as snow with a hint of a red blush on her cheeks. Akai´s pink lips look inviting to him, her beautiful but unfocused blue eyes are clearer with the help of some mascara and her hairstyle makes her look very…different, but not in a bad way. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her but he was quick to regain his stoic and calm composure. Akai has made him realize a lot of different emotions in the past such as warmth of someone who cares without wanting anything in return, the feeling of despair and fear when she´s hurting but also a feeling of complete relaxation in her presence. Neji swallows his saliva silently. His chest feels warm and heavy at the same time as he regards her. Neji doesn´t know when but Akai has become an extremely important person to him and her standing there in front of him while looking so beautiful takes his breath away. He won´t question it anymore.

"Y-yeah" Ino comments nervously, pushing Akai forward to break the silence. "I helped her with her look, she is so pretty! Right?"

"Yes…" Neji tells her.

Akai can feel how her face, no her whole body, is blushing like mad. _I can´t believe he said that! In front of everybody! _Akai avert her eyes and face the ground. She is happy that Ino put on some foundation on her skin so her blushing isn´t as obvious now. It feels like her ears are burning with embarrassment.

"Say what you want." Akai snorts rudely but she can´t hide her happiness. "Let´s go!"

Neji smirks to himself as he notices Akai´s reaction. It makes the warmth within him grow even stronger. It makes him believe that it´s alright for him to actually feel that way about her because something he has learned about Akai is that she acts like she don´t care at all when she´s embarrassed. Akai stop in her tracks as she feels how Ino lets go of her arm and she´s about to complain when someone else grabs it gently. The smoothing scent of newly washed hair washes over her as she feels how the grip on her arm grows firmer. The pounding of her heart gets louder.

"Ehm…Neji…?" She guesses, swallowing her saliva. _Oh no, I´m dying…_

"Yes." She can hear how he smiles at her.

"Do you want to bother me as well?" She comments sourly.

Akai looks down because she knows that she wouldn´t be able to control her facial expressions or heart if she faced him now. _Ino, why did you desert me now! _She catches the sound of her and Kanaye´s small talk. _Because of Kanaye? Traitor!_ Akai frowns to herself but forces her mouth into the shape of a smile as she thanks Neji for his help.

"Thank you." She murmurs quietly before she tries to return to normal."Ino forced me into this! I wouldn´t have agreed to wear my kimono if I knew you guys wouldn´t!"

Akai hears how a low and hoarse chuckle leaves his lips. A sound that she decided to ignore so her pride won´t get even more hurt. Neji guides her gently but firmly forward as the rest starts to take off towards the festival. It feels nice to walk by his side, with linked arms, but that´s nothing she can tell him. Akai wonder if it´s any idea to let herself feel good about it since he will disappear from her life tomorrow morning. Her face darkens. Neji regards Akai in silence and he notices her change of attitude clearly. The Hyuuga stays silent as his expression turns serious due to the same reasons Akai is feeling down. Neji turns his attention to the festival for a while as he tries not to make himself and his companion depressed.

The sun is now almost gone at the horizon and probably over a hundred of torches are lit to give everyone some light. The sound of people talking and laughing can be heard as the gang joins the celebrations. Merchants have gathered in the streets selling all kind of things such as sweets, souvenirs, clothes and jewelry and the place is quite lively compared to some days earlier. A smile grows on Akai´s lips as she hears how two children argue about who got the prettiest stuffed animal at one of the stands. Kanaye and Ino were right: a festival is what Grass need right now to forget all the pain.

"Maybe this was a nice idea after all." She comments softly. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

"You should too." Neji tells her in a smooth voice.

His statement makes Akai tense for a moment since she didn´t know he knew about her discomfort. She scolds herself because she should know better than think that something like that would pass by unnoticed by a man who can see almost everything. A chuckle leaves her lips. He understands her so well!

"I´ll try." She smiles gently up at him.

_The people of this village is strong and most of them tries their best to move on instead of suffering due to something in the past. Your own life will be in the past if you forget to live in the present_. The Grass kunoichi nods to herself. Akai flinches as she hears how Kiba says something about that all of them should find some place to eat. Festival food is always tasty. A smile grows and Akai can´t help but enjoy the evening with her friends. Being there with them and Neji makes her feel all warm inside and she feels thrilled about eating this festival food she never tried before.

Akai has never been hanging out with such a large crowd of friends before and she thanks her mission to Konoha for that. It changed everything to the better and Akai wonders what would have happened if she didn´t sneak off that time. Nothing would have changed in Grass or within herself and the village would certainly been completely destroyed by now. A smile grows bigger on her lips at the thought because she is so proud over the fact that she did complete her mission and that even Yamamoto praised her for it. Akai has reached one of her dreams: to actually be of help to her village and make them accept her as one of their Kunoichi. She should be really happy about it but the death of her comrades still lingers in her mind. Most of them teased her but they still didn´t deserve to die.

Her chest feels so warm as she sits there eating with her friends, laughing at something she can´t really understand as she ignores her pain. Before she traveled to Konoha with Naruto did she only consider Kanaye and…Yoshi her friends but now she has met over a dozen of people that she cares about. She is surrounded by people she would do anything to protect and hopefully they feel that way about her as well. Akai feels happy, loved and safe among them and it makes her all giddy inside.

_But they are all leaving tomorrow._

Akai´s smile fades and she´s just sitting there focusing on nothing but her own inner world that is in a turmoil at the moment. _Why did I have to remember that now? I´m only ruining this night for myself. _A deep breath leaves her mouth as she takes a sip of her drink.

"Akai!" Ino shouts from her seat next to Kanaye. "Smile, don´t forget to smile!"

"Huh? Oh yeah…" Akai forces a smile to return to her lips.

"A pretty girl like you should be that silent." Lee comments.

"Lee, please,… just don´t…" Akai sighs with irritation. "This is so stupid."

"Honestly Akai-san, you´re depression is… affecting all of us." Sakura comments. "Can´t you just relax a little?"

Akai flinches a little and she turns to face Sakura. The Grass ninja doesn´t know if the pink haired woman wants to intentionally hurt her or if that is just her personality but that doesn´t change the fact that her way of replying is bothering her.

"Ehm, this is how I am…?" She murmurs awkwardly. "And I can´t ignore my feelings like that."

"A ninja shouldn´t show emotion." Sakura counter attacks.

"I´m well aware of that but this isn´t a mission." Akai sounds angry._ As if you never cried!_

"But cheer up, I mean, it´s not every day you get to hang out like this right?" Sakura tries to sound cute and change the direction of the conversation.

"Geez, sorry." Akai shrug her shoulders and tries to get over it.

Akai feels uncomfortable all of a sudden even though the others start up a new conversation to make it easier. The lip gloss on her lips gets a little messed up as she bites her lower lip as a bad habit. Neji glances as her as Akai get up from her seat, leaving him slightly colder. He can feel how her warmth disappears and he has to force down a sigh of disappointment. White eyes follow her as she makes her way away from him but it´s Naruto who questions it.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asks Akai.

The blonde ninja sits next to Sakura with heavy bandages all over his body. Akai has always wondered why he is such a quick healer but she recently got the explanation to that question. He is the wielder of the Kyuubi: the nine tailed beast that almost destroyed Konoha some years back. The fact that he still looks so beaten up is proof of how badly injured he got during the fight against Sound. Akai feels even worse when she looks at him.

"To find my brothers." She answers shortly with a weak smile growing on her lips. "Festivals are an event for families as well, right?"

"Yeah… be careful!" Nauro tells her with surprise. "Be sure to catch up with us later ok!"

"Yeah I will. See you later." Akai waves her hand while smiling before she turns around and leaves.

Sakura blinks twice in a surprised manner at Akai´s sudden choice to leave and she wonders if she said too much just now.

"W-will she be ok?" Hinata questions.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asks her friend.

"Akai knows how to move around here it´s her home!" Naruto exclaims certainly, he trusts his friend fully.

"I´m not so sure about that. She might have known how to move around before but the whole village is disarranged after the war. Nothing is the same. Wasn´t that why she actually accepted to be guided by Ino and Neji in the beginning?" Shikamaru points out while regarding the others with a raised brow.

Ino and Neji react almost the same way: eyes widening a little, but none of them speaks a word. They both know they can trust Akai. The Grass ninja hates to be pitied and would do a lot to avoid it but she´s not an idiot. There´s a difference.

* * *

**Akai **feels irritated as she walks down the road by herself. She´s angry at Sakura for being so insensitive but even more upset with herself for actually bothering to feel something about what the pink haired woman said. It´s impossible to relax for her in a time like this. The bitter taste of war is still too present to ignore. Cold air hits her in the face as she faces the dark sky above wondering if Yoshi is looking over her.

The Grass Chuunin searches for her family among the crowd since she knows that Aoi would help Gosai and his friends to sell origami cranes today. Cranes that represents sadness but also growth to support Grass. It´s a nice thing to do but Akai doubts anyone can afford to buy some because they need the money to survive themselves. Akai is quick to search for her big brother´s chakra and follow the trace to his location.

"Sis!" Aoi greets her with surprise.

"Yo." Akai smiles.

Akai approaches them and gives Gosai a quick hug before she nods at Aoi as well. The two of them, together with several kinds from the ninja academy, are doing their best to sell the paper animals they folded the other day. Akai remembers how jealous of people who could do such precise things with their fingers but she´s glad she got over that. She is skilled at other things so it´s ok not to be nimble-fingered.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn´t you be with your friends?" Aoi asks her with a hint of surprise still present in his dark eyes.

"I thought I should help out a little." She avoids telling him the whole truth.

Aoi looks at her while thinking that something must have gone wrong with her friends. He doesn´t complain though because he rather have her here, close to him, than with those people he barely knows. He can trust Kanaye though, but the mental picture of that Hyuuga hugging his younger sister still bugs him a little._ I guess she´s growing up…?_

"Yay, Akai onee-chan came!" Gosai seems happy over it.

It seems that the small ten-year-old has told his friends about what Akai did during the war and both he and she have gained popularity among the youngsters. The young woman smiles at the sight of the children as they start to ask her about things and she remembers how they ran away from her before she traveled to Konoha. Akai decides to help out and together the Isozakis manage to sell a couple of cranes to foreign ninja. She is surprised that people actually do buy them even thought their own situation might be worse…

"Akai-san."

A familiar voice makes her look up and stare at a blurry outlines of a person standing in front of her. She can´t recognize the man but the voice told her that she should know who he is. Someone she spoke to quite recently…

"…Yusuke-senpai?" She guesses hesitantly.

"Yes, that´s right." Akai can hear how he is smirking as she sighs with relief. "How are you?"

"Hi Yusuke!" Aoi greets him in a friendly manner. It seems that they know each other." Make sure to buy some cranes, buddy."

"Yeah yeah."

Akai laughs a little at the two Jounin before she answers his question.

"Fine, just slightly uncomfortable. I´m not used to these kinds of celebrations." Akai looks away to help Gosai find the coins. "And I´m not good at selling things either."

"Oh why not?" Yusuke urges her to tell him.

"Why I am uncomfortable or bad at selling stuff? Haha." Akai chuckles at herself. "I dislike dressing up and being around this many people."

"You should enjoy it."

_Someone told me that already. _"Yeah, I know. Senpai, do you want to buy a crane?"

Yusuke laughs a little since he´s sure she asked him that because of her brother. "Sure, I want a blue one."

Gosai is quick to help Akai find the said color and she thanks him with a smile The small boy knew it would be hard for her to tell the white and light blue crane apart.

"Here." Akai gives him one and he gives her a couple of coins. "Thank you."

"Senpai, how are you? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah I´m as fine as I can be in times like these." He tells her honestly. "But I—"

Something makes Yusuke stop talking and it takes a while before Akai realizes what. A new presence joins them and Akai tilts her head to the side. A wave of chakra caresses her face and eyes widen a fraction as she realizes who it is.

"Neji?" She utters his name with surprise.

"I´ll take one." He answers indifferently.

Akai flinches a little at the cold voice he is using but is quick to act and search for the crane he wanted. The sudden resurrection of butterflies in her stomach makes it hard for her to concentrate on the task but she manages to find the right one with the helped of Gosai._ Was he searching for me? Why?_ She can´t help but feel a little irritated too because she left them to be alone a little, she didn´t leave so he could look for her. Akai can´t stay irritated for long though.

"Here."

Electricity runs through her body as she feels how Neji´s cold fingers touch her skin as she takes the crane from her hand. She has to swallow a gasp of surprise. _Why does he affect me like this? _Akai turns red as she feels how Neji takes her hand suddenly and drags her away from her brothers and Yusuke while muttering something about borrowing her for a while. Akai is too surprised to think about anything else about the whit eyed man and she doesn´t notice Gosai´s worried face. It´s the same as him guiding her, she knows that, but it feels so nice when his large hand encircles hers and she wishes it meant something more. The Grass ninja relaxes as she let him pull her along.

"Ah, teenagers!" Yusuke comments with a smirk as he notices Aoi´s expression. "So lively."

"I wish they could grow up." Aoi comments sourly with his eyes fixed at Neji´s back but he can´t help but smile. _She´s like a flower, blossoming boldly after a hard time of war._

Akai feels disoriented and confused as Neji continues to pull her along somewhere. She has no clue why he acts like this or why it seems that he´s in a hurry to get her away from her family. After some minutes of quick walking Neji finally slow down and let Akai catch up with him. Her breathing is a little of due to her lack of training after her injury and due to being forced to walk in her tight kimono. Neji stands silent in front of her with his back towards her.

"Neji, what´s wrong?" She asks him with a couple of heavy breathes.

"Why did you take off like that?" He asks her finally.

Akai makes an irritated noise at his way of answering a question with another question. Blue eyes soften a little and she sighs tiredly. There is no reason to lie anymore.

"…I felt irritated and I didn´t want that to affect you guys." Akai smiles wryly. "I didn´t want to ruin the night for you being all depressed about what is technically in the past now. I can´t let go of what happened."

Neji stays silent and that silence makes Akai aware of the fact that they´re still holding hands. Or rather: he is holding hers in an iron grip. He probably saw through her façade and realized that she was upset with Sakura and everything that happened, that she couldn't stop thinking about the war and the death of a loved one. Akai is torn between being happy about it or even more irritated. Another deep sigh leaves her lips.

"Do you know a good spot to relax?" Neji asks her, changing the subject while still using a slightly cold voice.

"Yeah…why?" Akai answers hesitantly with a sad voice."…If it wasn´t destroyed in the war that is."

"Take me there."

Akai looks at him in confusion but obeys since it sounded more like an order than a question. She squeezes Neji´s hand a little as she takes the lead through the crowd of people using her chakra to find her way around. Akai wonders what´s wrong with him and why he´s acting so funny all of a sudden but she doesn´t complain over the extra time she gets with him. The inner Akai does a banzai dance happily. Akai leads him to a small path in the woods, what´s left of the woods, and they climb a small cliff before reaching a hill with really good scenery. The Albino girl didn´t think it would be so hard to climb in her kimono so Neji was forced to help her quite a lot. Her cheeks are red due to embarrassment.

Neji looks at the scenery in silence as Akai sits down near a tree. The wind is slightly stronger up there so she seeks the protection of the tree to stay somewhat warm. It´s a beautiful night with a sky full of stars and you can see the festival from up there. The distant voices of people can be heard.

"I used to come here when I wanted to be completely alone." Akai breaks the silence. "Just to think. I could see things more clearly from here, somehow."

Neji turns to look at her and the slight altering of his pose makes his long hair float in the wind beautifully. He hasn´t seen much of the positive things about Grass since he arrived in the midst of war. This is Akai´s home. White eyes look out over Grass as he ponders over it. She grew up here. A deep breath leaves the Hyuuga´s lips as he finally relaxes. _She probably feels how I would feel if it was Konoha I saw in front of me. _The larger part of Grass that he can see from the hill is destroyed. Neji shakes his head almost unnoticeably before he makes his way to join Akai under the tree.

"It looks like shit right? Trust me, it used to beautiful." Akai tells him with a sad smirk on her lips.

"I´m certain this place will be as beautiful as it was in some years." He comments softly.

White eyes narrow as Akai takes the freedom to rest her head in her companion´s lap. Akai is slightly surprised over the fact that he doesn´t complain about it but starts to touch her hair almost immediately. Ino would kill her if she knew that she let Neji ruin the hairstyle she prepared for her. Neji pulls out the hairpin as he starts to massage her scalp gently. A soft sigh of comfort leaves her lips as she relaxes into his touch. This reminds her of how they used to hang out in Konoha before everything turned up-side-down. She used to comfort Neji like this but it´s now his turn to do the same for her.

"What´s on your mind?" Neji asks her after a while of silence.

"…The war." Akai answers honestly. "Bad stuff only. I can´t get it out of my head. It´s like this pain...inside my chest…I feel like I´m suffocating."

"You´re grieving." He states the fact as if it´s a natural thing to do.

"Yeah…" Akai swallows a bundle of pain and she touches her chest before her hand lies to rest at her stomach where her scar is still visible under her clothes. "I think that this kind of pain is way worse than physical pain."

Neji´s eyes darken a little as he thinks about how he almost lost her when he first arrived in Grass. The way she is touching her stomach makes him remember how he find her in the forest that day. How Akai was fighting for her life for several days before it was clear that she would survive. He remembers the pain he felt back then. The man´s hart is aching right now as well but not with the same intensity as before, maybe because he knows the girl lying with her head in his lap won't disappear like she could have at that time? Akai moves a little as she feels how Neji grows rigid.

"…Neji?"

"What else is on your mind?" He asks to make Akai stop worrying about him.

"I´m thinking of what I´m supposed to do from now on… I´m not certain of what I want." Akai feels how her hands are sweating.

"Hmm." A deep sound emerges from his throat.

It´s true that she is unsure what to do after Grass recovery. Probably continue to train to meet her second goal: become a Jounin or even a higher ranked Shinobi. But that goal seems so far away right now and she wonders if that´s what she really wants. If it will be worth all the pain. Akai frowns a little. It would be so much more fun if she could grow stronger together with Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji like she did back in Konoha rather than by herself here in Grass. The girl decided to tell Neji what is bothering her the most right now even though she is a little nervous about his reaction.

"….And about you leaving tomorrow." She finally tells him after a bit of hesitation.

Neji stops touching her hair abruptly. A silence spread between them and Akai can feel how Neji tenses once more. Akai grows uncomfortable so she sits up with a grunt to face him. As she open her eyes she sees two white orbs looking straight at her in the darkness: the same eyes she noticed one sunny day in Konoha months ago. Eyes that awakened a new interest inside of her, eyes that saw something within her that no one else has discovered or even tried to find and eyes that she still finds herself falling deeper and deeper into. The eyes of the man she has fallen so deeply in love with in such a short period of time. The hand, that Neji used to touch Akai´s hair, fell down to rest on her shoulder as she moved away from him. He is about to cup her cheek when a loud BANG interrupts them. Akai flinches away violently at the sound and their body contact is broken. Wide but unfocused eyes stare up at the sky where she believes the sound came from. The dark sky is now clad in a red color.

"What was that?" Akai breathes as her fear fades.

"What can you see?"

"I see red flowers in the sky, and they are moving…" Akai tells him in a soft voice, full of wonder. "I thought the Sound troops were here again for a second."

Neji sees the reflection of the fireworks in Akai´s wide eyes and he finds himself staring at her profile totally ignoring the colors in the sky. He moves in closer beside her to make sure that she feels safe and protected.

"Akai…"

Akai tears her eyes away from the sky to look at the Hyuuga. "…Yeah?" She is slightly surprised over his sudden closeness.

"I have something I need to tell you before I leave." He tells her seriously.

Akai´s eyes widen so she can focus all her senses at the man speaking. Something about the way he said that makes her see all these kind of scenarios in her head. He must have realized that she was talking mainly about him when she said she was thinking of them leaving… Akai can feel how her heart beat quicken and her cheek turn into a much redder color. _What…? This feeling…_ Her mouth turns dry as she waits for Neji to continue.

"I—" He start in a confident manner.

"NEJI, AKAI-CHAN!"An extremely loud voice interrupts him.

Akai flinches violently once again and a deep breath leaves Neji´s lips. "Naruto…"

Neji and Akai turn around to see how all of their friends have joined them at the hill. Akai can´t help but sigh with disappointment as her moment with Neji is lost. _What did he want to tell me? _A smile grows on her lips when she´s once again surrounded by her friends though.

"We didn´t interrupt anything did we?" Kiba asks.

"No!" Akai is sure to tell them.

The small hill feels kind of crowded all of a sudden and all of the new visitors regard the view in silence for a while. The view is pretty and makes you feel so small yet at it at the same time shows how badly Grass is damaged. The foreign ninja, and Kanaye, feel mixed emotions as they stare at the now demolished landscape.

"Woah what an amazing view! It´s perfect!" Tenten comments as more fireworks light up the sky above everyone. "We can see all the fireworks from here."

"It´s …was…the best spot in Grass." Kanaye tells them in a somewhat sour voice.

"The sight is still nice. We all can see the new Grass in front of us and no one knows how it will go from here!" Naruto exclaims in a positive manner.

Akai smiles at him and nods as a simple thank you. The blonde man sits down next to her and Neji while grinning at them broadly. The Grass kunoichi´s eyes widen a little as Naruto hands her some sweets he said he won earlier. They taste really good so she hands Neji one as well. The Hyuuga looks at it for a second before he shakes his head in silence. Akai focus her senses on him in worry for a second but smiles gently at last. He´s not angry, really.

"So romantic…" Matsuri comments as she spaces out.

Everyone sits down to watch the fireworks that last for about ten minutes. It´s nice for Akai to be surrounded by friends and feel liked like that. Together they experience something nice and, according to Akai, magical. She will never forget this festival nor this moment with her dear friends. They will always have a place in her memory. Akai´s smile fades as Ino suddenly touches her hair from her seat slightly behind her.

"Akai, what happened to your hair?" She is referring to that the nice hairstyle she prepared for her is ruined.

"Ehm… I dropped the hairpin and couldn´t fix it myself." She answers with an innocent chuckle. "Neji didn´t want to help me either."

"Hn." He snorts with a small but noticeable smirk on his pale lips.

"…I see." Ino regard the pair with a smile growing bigger by each passing second.

Everyone turns silent as they watch the last fireworks color the sky together. The sound and colors fades slowly as the festival is coming to an end in the village below them.

"I guess that was it!" Naruto gets up on his feet as the colors fades from the sky.

"Let´s head back…I´m tired." Shikamaru comments with a sigh.

Shikamaru pretends to be very tired and uninterested in everything but there´s indeed a blush on his cheeks. Temari is holding his hand in hers in a bossy manner. It seems like the two of them grew closer during this festival.

"See you all tomorrow." Kiba says.

Akai only reacts when Neji gets up on his feet and starts to leave. She hurries to get up as well and almost fall over due to the sudden motion of her body. _I have to tell him! _She panics as she realizes that she hasn´t told him about her feelings yet and that this magical day is soon over. What will happen, or not happen, if she don´t grasp this chance now?

"Neji!" Her eyes are wide as she utters his name in a slightly desperate manner.

He stops in his tracks and turns to glance at her over his shoulder. No one seems to notice that he stopped walking since the others are talking with each other, laughing and just goofing around on their way to their inns.

"…Yes?"

She can´t think as their eyes meet. The long silence is dreadful as Akai ponders if she should just tell him or not. Anger boils up inside of herself as she hesitates.

"Oyasumi." She tells him with a weak smile, pain and regret boiling up inside of her already.

Nej smirks in a strange way, if Akai could see better she would have noticed the small hint of sadness in his expression. "Good night."

_Ah fuck. _Akai hates herself for not being brave enough to tell him what she feel but the worst thing is that she believes she has now lost the chance to confess before he is out from her life, forever. She hits one of the trees with her clenched fist. _I´m such a loser. _

"Let´s go back as well." Kanaye suggests and the two of them leaves together.

* * *

**Akai s**truggles as she quietly folds Neji´s newly washed clothes. She is up early to see all of her friends off since they´ll be leaving in one hour and she decided to help them to pack their things. She somehow ended up in Neji´s sleeping quarter, folding his clothes. Her eyes and senses are unfocused as she is slowly disappearing into her own world of thoughts. A dull pain lingers inside of her since she knows she needs to do something, say something or anything like that before her only remaining chance is lost. It pains her greatly to just be there with the man she loves while being unable to voice these feelings properly. It´s not that she´s afraid of being rejected, not at all, it´s just that he will leave and they live quite far apart. _I wonder what would hurt the most: getting rejected or that he says yes and leaves …_

"Akai, I can do that myself." Neji´s deep voice surprises her.

Neji was regarding her silently before he decided to interfere. He just stepped out of the shower and is dressed in his usual clothing while drying his long dark hair. Neji regards her intensively as he notice how badly she flinches at the sound of his voice. She was probably thinking of something, and judging on her expression, it wasn´t something pleasant. Akai looks at him for a moment before she continues with what she was doing. She folds one of his spare shirts and puts it into his bag as nicely as she can.

"No, please let me help you. I know … that I´m probably making a mess but I still want to do it."

Neji turns silent once again. The man dries his hair for a little longer before he combs it carefully and ties a bandana around his head. Akai feels a little uncomfortable to be there alone with him but she ignores that feeling as she turns to face him.

"I wanted to thank you properly." She starts while acting like everything is alright. "For everything you´ve done for me. You taught me a lot of things…helped me get stronger…So I wanted to see you off properly. I will always remember you."

Akai knows that what she´s saying sounds like a rehearsed speech . She can feel his all seeing eyes on her. Her senses turn numb as her emotions starts to get out of control. She bites her lips as she is forced to stop speaking because her voice is trembling so much. She feels embarrassed, fragile and so girly right now. Her inner turmoil makes her unable to sense how Neji approaches her.

A soft gasp leaves Akai´s lips as a pair of strong arms suddenly encircles her and pulls her into a warm chest. Neji´s scent infiltrates her senses in that moment and it leaves her breathless. His long damp hair falls down around her and he smells like heaven, his warm breath against her cheek smells of rice and his touch sends a thousand of volts of electricity down her whole being. That´s when she realized how big he is compared to her. His body can encircle hers completely making her feel safe and protected. She feels like she´s slowly suffocating to death because the pain inside is too great. This is one of those good bye hugs right?

"I´m s-sorry!" She apologizes into his shirt loudly. "I couldn´t fold your shirts…nicely…"

Neji frowns as he feels how the girl in his arms starts to tremble violently. This is not like the fierce, stubborn and rude girl he first met in Konoha several months ago. White eyes turn focused as he frowns. Akai´s feelings reach him as a powerful punch to his stomach. He has been dreading this day for several days now and the pressure building up inside of him makes him tighten his hold on the girl in his arms. Leaving Grass without being true to his emotions is something he can´t do. That would hurt just as much as committing suicide.

"Akai…" Neji murmurs her name into her hair.

"I guess this is when I should say_ good bye._" She hides her face from him as she pushes herself away from his embrace. "I think the others are already waiting outside. We should join them."

Her eyes widen as Neji´s hold on her grows firmer, making her unable to push him away or move at all. His strong arms keeps her still, close to him in a way that makes her heart beat like crazy. _Why is he acting like this? Doesn't he realize that he´s making our parting worse?_ Akai feels so confused and she is about to start struggling when he says something that makes her lose her balance completely.

"This isn´t a goodbye." Neji tells her sternly.

A surprised gasp leaves Akai´s lips and a wave of tears she didn´t know where threatening to leak falls down her cheeks. It surprises her but not as much as it surprises Neji. His hands squeeze her arms almost painfully as he leans in closer to her. Akai squirms with discomfort as she fights her own emotions. She doesn´t want to part with him while crying. She doesn´t want him to remember her like that.

"This isn´t a goodbye." He repeats almost angrily."One day we´ll—"

"I can´t hear you…" Akai interrupts him in a hoarse voice.

Neji´s eyes narrow. "Don´t make me repeat myself…"

Neji moves in even closer to her, staring her straight in her unfocused eyes with such an intensity that would leave anyone breathless. The Hyuuga doesn´t let her avert her eyes as he waits for her to explain herself. He know she heard what he said. Neji is certain of it.

"My heart is beating so loudly…I can´t…hear you..." Akai whimpers.

Neji´s eyes narrow even more at her answer. Her skin is so pink due to her severe blushing, her eyes are closed to avoid facing him and her tears feels warm under his thumbs as he wipes them away for her. A deep breath leaves his lips just before Neji cover her trembling lips with his own. Akai´s eyes widen as Neji force her to tilt her head backwards so he´ll get better access to her mouth. The kiss is sweet yet salty due to her tears. It takes a while for the Grass kunoichi to actually understand what is going on because she didn´t expect him to act like that since it´s so out of character. She clings to him weakly as the realization hits her. A hoarse yet quiet moan can be heard from Neji´s throat as Akai hesitantly returns the show of affection.

Neji breaks the kiss slowly, staring into Akai´s eyes without closing his eyes once. He wants to make sure that she feels the same way about him. She´s not crying anymore but the girl looks bewildered and at a loss of words. Akai looks really stunning to Neji in that moment. So brave yet…so lost. A soft breath leaves the Hyuuga´s lips and he tries to smile a little. His hold on her softens as he decides to tell her how important she is to him.

"You´re special to me … so I´ll make sure that this isn´t a goodbye."

Akai just stares at him as if she doesn´t let herself believe him. "I´m not worthy of you." Her answer is equally serious.

Akai don´t know what she´s trying to say but it has to do with Neji´s status, his kekkei genkai, his clan and the fact that she is the opposite of him. She´s an Albino which makes her partly blind and very sensitive to sunlight, her family is small and she has no chance to stand up to the women the Hyuuga clan that are certainly standing in line to date him. They are living in not only separate countries but also in separate worlds. The Hyuuga clan would never accept her, never, but that doesn´t change the fact that she loves him. It doesn´t change the fact that she wants to try to work things out.

"I don´t care what people say. No matter what I do I won´t be able to become anything but a skilled fighter for my clan, not with this cursed mark on my forehead. They can´t force me to be with someone I don't want. " Neji tells her seriously in an almost intimidating voice. "Your eyes, that are not as clear as other´s, saw through my façade…almost like it was and still is transparent to you. You helped me take the first step outside the cage my clan put up for me and I think it´s time you did the same. "

That is the longest speech Akai ever heard him utter but it makes his words more real to hear. He was able to tell what he felt unlike her and he is brave enough to stand for his actions as well, as if he thinks she is worth the trouble. Akai feels how intense happiness takes over her body but she tries to control herself.

Akai looks down but a smile is growing in her lips. "You´re risking a lot here, you know that?"

"The only thing I´m risking here is…my heart."

Akai´s eyes widen at the sincere but quite cheesy reply. She feels how she breaks down inside as all her worry fades away. _He wants me. _Akai throws her arms round his neck and hugs him close to herself in a swift movement. White eyes widen with surprise. She didn´t dare to believe he actually liked her: a girl without beauty, skills… a girl that can´t give him a safe future.

"I love you, dammit!" She whispers into his hair. "I hate you for making me suffer like this!"

It´s now her turn to kiss him as a sign of pure bliss. Akai is ready for it this time and it makes her able to feel it more properly as she slowly leans in to give him an innocent kiss on his lips. The touch is clumsy and uncertain but electricity runs through her whole being as Neji´s moist lips deepens her kiss sensually. Both of them sigh with relief as they pull apart since they know that their feelings are returned.

"You have to go." Akai tells him shyly as she adjusts his white robe a little. "It´s time."

Neji let go of Akai reluctantly before he grabs his bag, snorts a little at the sight of his messy robe in there, and looks at the girl. A smirk is visible at his lips as he sees how she frowns at his reaction. Akai did try her best at folding his clothes but both of them know it was a failure. Akai joins Neji as he makes his way out of the inn to meet the other ninja from Konoha and Suna that are already waiting outside. Akai wants to stay as close to Neji as possible but the fear of hurting more when he leaves makes her try to distance herself a tiny bit. It feels better to part with him after what happened but she knows she still will cry over it later.

Akai is surprised over the large number of people that have gathered at the gates of Grass to see them off because no one liked the foreign ninja in the beginning. They were late to sign the contract and come to their aid, they always used Grass as their own battle field and they were somewhat regarded as too snobby. All changed when they stayed and helped Grass in the war. Everyone in Grass has accepted their strength and friendship. Akai notices her mother, two brothers, Yusuke-senpai and Kanaye in the crowd.

"Neji! You´re late!" Tenten scolds him a little.

The Konoha ninja seemed to have been waiting for Neji for a while but he acts indifferent as Tenten scolds him. Everyone seems eager to return home and it makes Akai smile.

"I never thought we would have to wait for a Hyuuga." Kiba comments teasingly.

"Patience never hurts." Is Neji´s smooth reply.

Akai leaves Neji´s side as she approach Ino to give the girl a bear hug. A lot of her friends create a small circle around her and Akai tries to smile happily at all of them. Even people like Sai, Shino, and two high raked ninja she can´t recognize returns her greeting politely. She hugs Ino a little longer to make sure that the other girl understands how much she means to her.

"Thank you, for everything." Akai tells everyone but her gaze lingers at Ino.

"No biggie." Ino squints as she smiles. "Just make sure to come and visit so you can repay me, ok?"

Akai nods even though she´s not certain she can keep that promise. Naruto appears out of nowhere and glomps her from behind, a hug she returns. Even Shikamaru gives her a gentle pat on the head and Akai hugs the hesitant Hinata. The female Hyuuga blushes a little but returns the hug gently.

"You´ll always be welcomed to join or practices." Shikamaru tells Akai with a lazy grin.

"A-a-and I want to eat ramen with you again someday." Hinata stutters.

Akai can´t bring herself to answer that but she smiles, silently telling them she wants to go to Konoha again sometime. A sudden touch makes her turn to focus her senses to her right where she finds Neji standing once again. He squeezes her hand gently in a thought through way so none of their friends noticed it.

"We will meet again." He tells her as if he read her mind and understood her doubt.

Akai´s surprised expression turns into a big smile."Yeah, of course we will!" She tells them in a loud and happy voice.

"Bye Akai, see you soon." Naruto tells her as all of them starts to get ready to leave.

"Bye! Promise to not get yourself killed!" Akai shouts as loudly as she can.

The Grass inhabitants cheer as the group of ninja walk out the gates like heroes with the wind caressing their bodies. Everyone adores them, look up to them and praises them for their roles in this war. Akai steps back to join her family and her mother, Akane, is quick to put an arm around the girl´s shoulders in a comforting manner.

Akai doesn´t know if everything were just empty words but she doesn´t care as she waves Neji, and the others, off. She had been waiting her entire life for eyes that see her in her darkness. What she didn't know was that she would find a pair of Byakugan eyes that saw beyond her darkness and beyond her handicap when she traveled to Konoha. But that man is now leaving her and their future is still unwritten. She feels good inside and actually dares to hope that she will someday, somehow, meet all of them again.

* * *

**AN: End of first part of "Bad Eyesight". Future chapters will involve different kinds of problems, so stay tuned. **

**Will Akai meet Neji again? What about the Hyuuga clan? What will happen with Grass from now on? **

**Please read and review, it´s your comments that keep me going. **


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: This is the first chapter of the second act of Bad Eyesight. This chapter will be like a second introduction where I will describe changes such as Akai's growth, Grass's situation and some new Ocs that will take part later on. **

**Thank you guys for the reviews, favs, alerts and support! I have to be honest though and say that I would like to hear more about what you think. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**A young woman**, around the age of twenty, stands alone at a hill as she watches over the capital of Grass with tranquility surrounding her. The strong wind at that height tries to push her backwards but she holds her ground against it firmly. The breeze makes her long whitish-blonde hair, that would reach her butt if it wasn´t tied into a high ponytail, get somewhat tangled but it doesn´t seem to bother her because her mind is somewhere else. Those blue, unfocused and misty eyes of hers stare at something far beyond the horizon as she takes a firmer hold on her staff.

"Akai…" A gentle and manly voice breaks the silence. "It´s time."

Akai doesn´t have to turn around to know who addressed her because she has known of his presence for some time now. Kanaye has been standing behind her wondering if he should interrupt her meditation or not for quite a while. He is as proper and gentlemanly as always. A soft smile grows bigger on Akai's pale lips as she turns towards the source of sound with closed eyes. He can always make her happy.

"You´re eager to leave, Kanaye." She can hear how the older man grins at her.

"Let´s go and meet the others." He tells her with a smirk playing at his lips.

"I want to.. visit Yoshi first." Akai tells Kanaye softly.

Akai and Kanaye, together with a dozen Grass ninja, are preparing to go to Konoha to take the dangerous Jounin exam. Akai has been waiting for a chance to go to Konoha and was thrilled when she heard that the Jounin exam would be held there this year. She couldn´t take part last time because it was held in Suna, a village with a climate she can´t stand, so she´ll now try to achieve one more of her dreams in life: take another step to become a strong kunoichi.

Akai feels how the wind plays with her long hair as she climbs down the same hill she and her comrades watched the fireworks long ago. With a quick bend of her body she jumps and makes a small spin before she crouch down on when touching the ground and leaps forward. Happiness can be seen in her face, she doesn´t try to hide it. She´ll be able to meet all her friends again. She´ll meet _him_ again. A smile grows boldly on her pale lips. She has been waiting for this kind of opportunity for a whole year now. A year.

* * *

**A lot has changed** since Akai watched her friends´ backs as they left Grass almost one year ago. Akai has matured both in body and mind due to the hardships she went through every day until this present time. Hardships force girls to become women and Akai, and a lot of others, have grown up all too quickly in this world of killing.

Grass has still not recovered fully after the war against Sound but it´s now a living village where people can laugh and feel safe again. The buildings are somewhat rebuilt, their fields have started to give them food, their water is secure but the landscape is still half dead. You can see small baby trees growing from the soil and that is a sign of great recovery. A strong seed can grow and blossom in the worst kind of places.

The people in the village doesn´t look down on Akai as much as they did before because the youngsters and the shinobi all saw what she did for Grass. Akai got praised by their leader Yamamoto for the fact that she did manage to make Konoha sign the treaty even though it was almost too late. sSe did fight and almost die for a village that wasn´t accepting her for who she was at first so they noticed her at last.

The older inhabitants, and above all, the traditionalists still dislike Akai's strangeness though. Some people will never accept anything but what they consider to be normal. Akai can never become normal but she things that it´s the best at times. There´s certainly a reason why she was born this way and she wouldn´t want to change it to lose that reason, whatever it is.

Akai has been training her body and soul since the day the Konoha and Suna ninja left to make sure that she recovered from the war as well as making sure that her other senses are strong. Her body was injured and weak after the war and it took several months just to regain her normal strength before she could focus on new jutsus and moves in preparation for the Jounin exam.

The scar on her stomach is still visible, a white slightly bumpy line goes from her bellybutton towards her chest. It seems that it won´t fade away, no matter how much healing cream her mother puts on it. It will always be there to remind her of her weakness but also of her successes at completing the mission. The scar has become a part of her and Akai doesn´t hate it any longer because it formed her personality a great deal.

Her intense training made her hearing, sense of touch, taste and ability to smell grow stronger which resulted in that Akai don´t use her eyes as much anymore because using them makes her, strangely enough, unable to see at all. Akai´s new pride to wear the grass symbol made her use the headband to cover her useless eyes in a way to both accept her blindness and represent her village properly. Akai is now completely blind but she barely noticed it happen nor feels miserable for the loss.

About Yamamoto, many questioned his leadership after the incident and there might be a election to chose a better leader in the future. Yamamoto agreed since he want to atone for his mistake by risking the whole village over one document of a criminal. There are mixed emotions because some wants Yamamoto killed while others understood why he wanted to protect Zetsu so badly.

* * *

**Her feelings** for a certain man haven´t changed even though she has. It was hard for Akai and Neji to keep in touch during the year apart but they exchanged a couple of letters describing the daily events of their lives. Akai was really surprised and touched when Aoi first handed her a letter, since she usually never got any letters, and she asked Kanaye to read it to her. Her face got so red when she realized it was from the Hyuuga so she couldn't really turn to her mother or family about it. Aoi is still suspisious towars the Hyuuga clan while her mother seems to want to prepare the wedding already. There were no words of love in his letters, nor did Akai write about it, but he writing _I want to see you_ is good enough for her.

It felt awkward to let Kanaye read the letters to her at first but their bond has grown stronger to a point where they don´t hide anything from the other anymore. He has become a third brother to her and she became a sanctuary for him to hide when his father becomes to stern with their clan business. Kanaye was supposed to become the new clan leader and continue to breed horses but due to his arguments with his father he decided to join Akai and travel to Konoha instead. Leaving his beloved horses behind for a while in hos journey to evolve as a person and find his own path.

The Grass Kunoichi feels a little uncertain about how she should act when meeting him again even though Akai and Neji has written to each other a few times. She decided to face him with a confident smile and see where things go from there. She can't assume he feel the same because people can change and... what if he doesn't love her any more?

* * *

**The** wind plays with Akai´s long hair as she stands in front of her former team mate and friend´s grave in the Grass graveyard. The calmness around her is comfortable even though a graveyard should be a place of sadness. A lot of her lost comrades lies there under her, she can feel their presence with her feet, but she´s not afraid anymore. Akai feels that what she should do is to honor them and their memory because they all died for a good cause.

"Yoshi…" Akai breathes as she stands in front of his grave. " I´m going, look over me…would you?"

She kneels down and touches the cold stone, her fingertips follows the Kanji of Yoshi´s name slowly. The grass feels wet under her knee but she doesn´t move for a while. A mental picture of Yoshi's grinning face flashes by and she fights her tears for a moment. She knows he wouldn't like it if she weeped in front of him.

"Let´s go." Kanaye urges her on since he knows what is going through his friend´s head.

Akai nods before she gives the grave one last touch and gets up on her feet. She sighs as she ties her Grass headband so it covers her eyes as she follows Kanaye to join the group of Grass ninja waiting for them in the clearing. This is the start of a new adventure.

* * *

**The group of Grass shinobi **is lead by a young man called T.J, a Jounin Yamamoto saw fitting for the leader role, and he makes sure to guide his men on their travel to Konoha. He is about 25 years old but has a mind of someone much younger at times. He takes his missions seriously though. He has short pitch black hair, dark brown eyes and light skin and wears the Grass Jounin uniform with pride. What people don't know is that his back is painted in red, he is heavily tattooed with one big dragon. T.J might be serious at work but he is a different person on his free time. He is greatly respected since he is one of the few Jounin Grass has.

Together they are Akai, Kanaye and T.J as well as Ginga, Yukiko, Hikaru, Tsubasa, Chiba, Momo, Ken, Hanatarou and Po a bunch of shinobi Akai vaguely knows of from her time at the academy. Even though she barely remembers them, they all seem to know about her: the albino of the village who became a hero during the war. It makes her slightly uncomfortable but she enjoys the respect they show her, well, the respect most of them gives her. Akai doesn´t bother with them much and stays quiet at Kanaye´s side but T.J insists on hearing her opinion from time to time. T.J is a nice guy but sometimes Akai wonders if he is as happy and carefree as he wants everyone to believe he is. She won´t ask though because it´s not her right to do so.

"Let´s stop here." T.J exclaims after several hours of running. "Ginga and Hikaru, set up camp and girls… please collect some firewood. The rest of you secure the area."

"I can put up the tents!" Chiba takes initiative.

"Roger." Yukiko answers without any expression on her face.

"…Sure." Momo nods uncertainly.

Akai stays silent as she follows Yukiko who naturally took the lead as the three girls of the twelve person squad prepare for the night. Yukiko is a very tall and thin girl with pale skin, long black hair and ice-blue eyes: she is rumored to be a deadly assassin. Momo on the other hand is a quite shy and clumsy medic trainee who follows them on Akai´s mother Akane´s orders. Akai feels more comfortable around Momo since they met and talked before due to the fact that her mother often spends time with the younger woman. Akai follows them silently and picks up small bits of wood as she senses where they are.

"How much wood do you think we'll need?" Momo asks uncertainly.

"Not too much." Yukiko answers. "Just to keep warm, it's bad to make a fire too long because fiends can easily spot you."

Akai nods silently, agreeing with Yukiko. She seem very experienced at traveling. After some time the three of them return to camp where all the tents are already prepared. Hikaru approaches the girls and takes the wood out of their hands to start a camp fire. Hikaru is about 16 years old and acts like a brat from time to time. The other Grass Shinobi are sitting around the place. Ginga is about 18 years old and comes from a well known clan in Grass. He is rich and kind of famous but tends not to use that to his advantage. He is a kind guy that would do anything for his country. Tsubasa is about the same age as Akai and Kanaye but is very quiet and distant which make him seem a lot more mature. He has long white hair. Chiba is a chubby thirty year old man who said he wanted to challenge himself and change his life. Ken is the youngest in the group aged only 14 years old. He was recommended by his teacher to take the Jounin exam due to his amazing skills with twin swords. Po is a young Chinese man in his early twenties. He is really good at cooking. Hanatarou is an old man with a great humor. He loves to tell stories and discuss things with all kind of people.

"Po, do your thing." T.J comments with a grin and the other man starts to prepare today's food instantly.

"I don't like beans, please don't prepare beans." Hikaru tells Po while frowning.

"You'll eat what I make, kid." Po answers teasingly. "No, there'll be ramen."

"We should all be happy to have Po here." T.J comments.

Everyone gathers around the fire as they eat their meal. T.J decides that all of them should talk about the upcoming exam to get to know each other better and discuss what might be waiting ahead of them.

"Konoha has several great shinobi clans…" T.J tells them wide-eyed with excitement. "Everybody knows about the Uchiha clan, then there is the Hyuuga clan…"

"The Uchiha clan is almost extinct." Akai ads. "We won't have to face them in the exam. The Hyuugas on the other hand..."

"Two of them helped Grass during the war." Po states the fact, interrupting Akai.

"…I was about to say that." T.J comments sourly. " Basically, everyone has the advantage over us since Grass isn't as highly developed ninja country as Konoha."

"Talk for yourself, that is just a bad excuse." Yukiko snaps at him.

"What I´m trying to say is that we need to be cautious." T.J sighs as he scratches his head tiredly. "The Konoha ninja, and other ninja at the exam, will know things we never even dreamed of!"

"Your technique is to scare us?" Akai questions when everybody turned quiet. "That won´t exactly make us stronger, rather the opposite."

"Then, o holy Isozaki, what do you suggest we do?" Hikaru asks her with a frown.

Akai turns towards him with a frown on her face. Her head band hides it from sight though. She can hear how Hikaru seems to dislike her way of knowing more than him but she doesn't think she acted too bossy. She has to be careful not to cause trouble.

"First, the Jounin exam isn´t a team exam, everyone is on their own. I suggest we let each other deal with the task as they want." She explains calmly.

"I agree." Yukiko nods. "I may be fighting for the same village as you but that doesn't make us the best of friends."

"Ouch, that's cold!" Hikaru shrugs.

"I.. didn't mean like that.." Akai voice her disagreement with Yukikio hesitantly.

"Calm down, guys." T.J comments. "Akai-san and Yukiko-san are right but let's remember that we all stick together if thretened by another village."

"Of course." Akai agrees.

"This is going to get interesting, I can feel it." Hanatarou comments as he laughs. "I'll have new stories to tell when we return home."

"Geez, granpa... " Hikaru frowns.

"Don't disrespect your elders!" T.J scolds him.

Tsubasa silently gets up on his feet and walks away.

"Where are you going?"

He stops and looks back over his shoulder.

"I'm not allowed pee?"

"Eh, go ahead!"

"I get the feeling that this will be a very... tiering.. trip." Kanaye tells Akai when everyone turns quiet and focus on their food.

Akai chuckles a little and nods. Tsubasa stares at Kanaye and Akai for a moment just as if he thinks they talked about him.

"Ah we didn't..." Akai starts but Tsubasa just snorts before he walks away. "Yeah, tiresome is the right word."

* * *

**T****he Grass Shinobi **managed to reach Konoha without any problems. They just ran into some thugs in the forest, thugs that lives like rats stealing food because of the war, and helped them as much as they could in exchange that there wouldn't be a fight. They usually don't like to get help. The situation got better the closer they got to Konoha: a village full of life and security.

The gates are wide open with several shinobi stationed to keep guard as foreigners enter to attend the Jounin exam. Everyone has to identify oneself through many ways to make sure no Sound ninja sneaks in due to the war and what happened at the Chuunin exam years ago. They aren't taking any risks.

"Show us all your weapons." A man in the Konoha uniform orders her and the rest.

Akai hands them her staff and empties her pockets of kunai and shuriken before they search through her bags and clothes. The rest of the Grass ninja does the same and the small table is soon full of weapons of all sizes and versions. A bow, a hammer, twin swords and much more. It's not fun to get touched like that by strangers but they all understands why they have to go through such a serious security examination.

"Escuse me, we need to see your eyes."

Akai nods silently as she takes of her head band and let the men see her dead eyes. She supposes it's needed for them to identify her since she didn't wear her headband like that on the photo on her ID. They stay silent but she easily notices their surprise. Akai doesn't let it affect her though so she patiently waits for their reply, but the silence gets uncomfortable.

"Isn't that Isozaki?" A familiar voice interrupts the uncomfortable tension between Akai and the unknown ninja. "It's is her!"

"...Genma-san, then... Kotetsu-san can't be far away." A smirk grows on Akai's lips.

The shinobi that was supposed to check her leaves in embarrassment as Genma and Kotetsu approaches the group of Grass ninja and takes over.

"Yo!" They greet her and Kanaye. "Long time no see. Are you here for the exam too?"  
"Yes." Kanaye answers politely but his voice sounds somewhat happier than usual.

"Then I'll look forward to be a referee." Kotestu comments while smirking. "You should have told Naruto and the others about your arrival, I'm sure all of them would have greeted you. Well, I bet you wanted to avoid the commotion?"

"I want to surprise them." Akai answers with a smile.

The thought of meeting all her friends, that made her grow so much as a person, makes her warm and giddy inside. But honestly, she is a little afraid of meeting them all again. Akai hasn't spoken to the most of them for a year and she bets all of them has changed. What if they can't get along anymore? What if they forgot about her? Akai shakes her head.

"You guys need to sign this as well." Genma tells them.

"What is it?" Hikaru questions suspiciously.

"A contract saying that if you don't follow our rules on your stay here we can hunt you down without facing any punishment." Kotetsu answers bluntly in a content manner.

"...Alright..." Hikaru murmurs with wide eyes.

Tsubasa steps in front of Hikaru and signs his contract first without saying a word. Hikaru frowns at the action but knows better than to comment. Akai frowns at the behavior as well as the man walks away as if he is some kind of God. Akai bites her thumb until it draws blood and uses it as a stamp to sign the contract. Genma helps her to do it at the correct location on the paper and Akai accepts the help without thinking that he pities her. He is just understanding and she doesn't care too much if people pity her anymore. She has grown up as she realized that there are people who has been through worse than her. A sudden commotion in the queue in front of her makes Akai stop and focus more closely.

"What's the problem?" Yukiko asks in an irritated voice, she doesn't like the delay either.

"It seems that I should have brought an additional identification because I'm... Chinese." Po explains.

"He hasn't been an inhabitant of Grass long enough to pass with his usual ID." T.J explains with a troubled expression.

"There must be something we can do?" Momo ask Genma and Kotetsu shyly.

"No, but he could get a temporary pass for the exam but he needs to be taken to the Hokage tower."

"I guess there's no other way." Po sighs slightly depressed. "I'll go."

Akai listens from a distance just as the others. Everyone are tired and wants to rest at an inn so the sudden stop irritates several of the Grass shinobi. T.J decides that Po should go on his own, well accompanied by some Konoha ninja, and that the rest of them should find a place to stay and grab something to eat.

"So where should we go?" Ginga questions.

"I already know a place I want to stay at, so, go ahead without me." Akai suddenly tells them.

She turns around and starts walking towards her destination quickly.

"Isozaki!" T.J shouts after her.

"I'll go with her." Kanaye tells T.J with a polite bow before he runs after her.

"Wouldn't it be better if we all stayed at the same place...?" T.J complains.

"Then, why not follow them?" Tsubasa comments before he walks away as well.

Akai, followed by Kanaye, makes her way towards the poorer parts of Konoha as she searches for the hotel she stayed at last year. Her heart is beating loudly in her chest as she recognizes her surroundings. Pale lips forms a smile. The smell, the narrow alleyways, the trash, the almost destroyed buildings, she have missed it all. Akai uses her staff to locate the entrance of the building before she enters hurriedly.

"Welco-" A very familiar voice starts.

Kumori is sitting behind the counter with her feet up, glasses on and book in hand. It seems that she was studying something about writing. The black haired young woman puts down her feet at the sight of her costumers and is about to say something when she just stops and stare. Her eyes widen slowly as the realization hits her.

"You don´t recognize me, do you?" Akai asks the girl.

"…Is it really…?" Kumori murmurs hesitantly.

"I´m back Kumori, and I need a room." Akai tells her gently.

Kumori squeals all of a sudden, jumps off her chair and glomps Akai. The sudden embrace surprises Akai a little but she returns the gesture. It feels strange to hold her. Her smell reminds Akai of their times together, shopping, their guy-talk, how Kumori always tried to cheer her up and how she didn't treat her like a handicapped freak.

"I've missed you." Akai's voice trembles a bit.

Kumori punches Akai out of the blue with a little irritated expression on her face. The action takes Akai by surprise and she takes some steps back before she questions her old friend's behavior. Isn't she happy to see her?

"Ouch!" Akai groans. "What did you do that for?"

"I won't forgive you for taking off like you did!" Kumori sounds angry.

"I...I am sorry..."

"You just left, Akai, and you didn't really say good bye. Later on I heard that you went against the Hokage's orders to return to Grass... to participate in a war. Akai, a WAR, and then I heard terrible stories when everyone returned."

"..." Akai takes her scolding with patience.

"Your friend, what was his name again? Eeeeh... Inuzuka, yeah... he told me about how you almost died. You didn't stop and think about how I would feel, did you?"

"I did what I thought was best for everyone. I didn't realize I hurt you." Akai tenses, she didn't expect this to happen.

"It's ok, I understand... but next time please explain what happen before you storm off...please?"

Kumori has forgiven Akai just like that and the Grass kunoichi feels how happiness returns to her being. She hugs Kumori one more time in a way to make sure the other girl understands how much she really means to her. She wouldn't stand to lose her in any way.

"I promise." Akai whispers.

The door opens again and Kanaye enters but stops in the doorway as he notice Akai and Kumori in there. His eyes narrow a tiny bit before he smiles. Kumori pushes Akai away as she notice his presence in the room.

"It seems like I... walked in on something." Kanaye whispers teasingly, as if he thinks he interrupted a lover's quarrel.

"It's not like that!" Kumori starts in a slightly paniced voice.

"It's Ok Kumori, this is Kanaye, my team mate and buddy. Kanaye this is Kumori one of my best friends here in Konoha." Akai laughs.

"Pleased to meet you." Kanake bows slightly.

"Same here." Kumori answers wide-eyed.

That's when the rest of the gang enters the hotel quite loudly. Yukiko frowns at the low standard of it all but stays quiet. Momo blushes due to the crowded but narrow space. Hanatarou laughs loudly at the sight and laughs even louder as Hikaru and Ginga comments that it was a bad idea to follow them here.

"Do you have... room for twelve Grass shinobi?"Akai laughs in a strained manner as she turns to Kumori.

"I'll see what I can do." She smiles brightly. "DAD, we got a LARGE booking!"

* * *

**AN: Ah, I didn't know I missed Kumori so much... **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though almost none of the original Naruto characters were present. **

**How do you think Neji, and the others, will react upon seeing Akai again? When they hear about her blindness? **

**please review. **


	31. Chapter 31

**Akai** is sitting down at the same bed she slept in over a year ago. Kumori has changed the matress, she can tell, but it´s the same feeling and smell as last time. Nothing has changed and the comfortable silence makes Akai feel at home immideatly.

"Akai, you´ve changed." Kumori breaks the silence.

This takes the Grass ninja by surprise. "Oh, how?"

"You seem a lot more grown up." She concludes after a while of thought.

Akai chuckles. "I had to grow up eventually."

Kumori smiles warmly."...What happened?"

"I´ll tell you about it but first... prepare some green tea and snacks, ok? It´ll be a long night and I want to tell you everything..."

Kumori smiles brightly at this, and she bolts up to prepare the tea and snacks Akai requested. "Well, we do have to catch up someday so..."

The two young women spent the night at Akai´s room talking about the year they´ve been apart. Kumori has managed to get a part time job as a journalist for a small newspaper in town so she´s working a lot these days.

"So, you´ll write an article about the Jounin exam, right? Akai asks her.

"Yeah, it seems like it." She nods. "Fighting isn´t really my _thing_ but I´ll probably enjoy it since I can cheer you on at the same time."

Akai smiles warmly.

"...And... there will probably be a lot of handsome boys there too, right?" Kumori continues.

Akai starts laughing. "Since when did you start to care about boys?"

"Shouldn´t I ask you the same thing, Isozaki, you who enchanted a Hyuuga of all people."

Akai turns blood red at the comment. She didn´t expect Kumori to know about her and Neji, well, not to that extent.

"What?" Kumori asks with a playful smirk as she notices her friend´s expression.

"I haven´t met him yet." Akai pouts.

"Oh." Kumori looks sourprised. "You _should_, first thing in the morning."

Kumori glares at Akai as if it´s not an advice but an order and the pressure from her stare makes Akai shiver even though she can´t see it herself. Akai laughs awkwardly after some moments of silence.

"You still love him?" Kumori asks gently.

"..."Akai bites her lip. "Of course I do but I´m worried... that he might have… you know... changed his mind or something...I haven´t seen him in such a long time."

"I don´t know the Hyuuga but he doesn´t seem to be the type to _change his mind _so easily from what I´ve heard." Kumori shrugs."He´s not the kind of person that would start something just to give it up if you know what I mean..."

Akai laughs again. It seems like Kumori knows about Neji more than she thought. She knew he was well known in Konoha for because of his skills, byakugan and clan. He´s well respected. Akai´s heart grows warm at this.

"I also want to meet my friends here, so tomorrow will be a day of reuinion... I can´t ah, I almost forgot, is there a certain guy that has caught your attention?"

It´s Kumori´s turn to blush. "No!"

"Ehm, that quick answer... is a little suspicious..."Akai laughs.

* * *

**Morning **comes quickly and Akai wakes up in the middle of the sunrise. She can feel the warmth of the sun on her face intensify as the sun slowly rises outside her window. The girl gets up silently and starts to cover her body with sun lotion. She brushes her long hair and ties it into a low ponytail, ties her headband so it covers her eyes, puts on her usual clothes in a manner much like the one of a robot.

"Isozaki, did you eat breakfast yet?" Her team leader, T.J, asks as she descends from the upper floor.

"No, I was planning to eat it in the village." Is her short answer.

"Oh." He looks surpriced. "Why won´t we all go there to streangthen our bonds!"

"...Sure..." Akai shrugs, she would prefer to eat alone though. "I can show you around Konoha as well."

The eleven Grass ninja gathers in the lobby of the hotel. Po is still missing. It takes longer time for some to get up than others, and two rather cold individuals, Yukiko and Tsubasa sighs in choir with irritation at the delay. Hikaru is the last one to join them and he´s descending the stairs with bad bed hair. T.J orders them to move out. Akai feels a bit awkward as she leads the way, because even though she can´t see, she believes they must look like a group of tourists to the Konoha inhabitants. The albino swallows her pride. Kanaye chuckles at her as he walks by her side. She elbows him violently. Akai takes them to a restaurant in the centre of the village and they all sit down to enjoy a great meal. The Grass shinobi are still getting to know each other but it´s clear that most of them are there to win and not to get new friends. The tension between them is quite uncomfortable. Akai and Kanaye stays together in their safe bubble during the meal, chatting about everything and nothing.

"...Akai?"

Akai frowns as she hears how someone behind her utters her name. The Albino girl focuses on the voice as she turns around slowly. The voice is very familiar: it´s feminine, loud and there´s a hint of bossiness in it.

"Ino?" Akai sounds surprised

Akai gets up on her feet to greet her friend. Kanaye turns around in his seat to see the Konoha kunoichi standing there with wide blue eyes. He smiles gently.

"Akai!"

"...Ino!"

Akai grunts as she´s suddenly glomped by the said blonde but she´s quick to return the gesture. She really missed the Yamanaka girl even though she somtimes did annoy her. The girl is one of her best friends and being without her has been a pain.

"I missed you like crazy!" Ino murmurs happily. "Why didn´t you visit me? Why didn´t you tell me you were coming?"

"Well, I´m not the type to run back and scream something like _yo, I´m back in town!_ Or something...:" Akai feels slightly embarrassed but also a bit guilty.

"You should have!" Ino tells her wide-eyed.

"Are you serious Ino?" Akai raises one eyebrow at her.

"...No." And she starts laughing before she turns around. "Shikamaru, Chouji, looks who´s back! Hurry, Hurry!"

"Geez, what do you want?" Shikamaru gets up in an annoyed manner but his eyes widen slightly at the sight of Akai..."Well, well..." ..and he starts grinning.

"Akai!" Chouji beams as he and Shikamaru approaches Akai and Ino.

"Long time no see." Akai greets them.

That´s when Ino recognizes Kanaye and she turns eerily quiet. Akai notices this and smiles a little as she feels Kanaye´s precense next to her. Akai wonders if Ino´s interest in Kanaye was strong enough to last the year they´ve spent apart. She knows that Kanaye wants to spend more time with her but she´s also aware of that Ino has a tendency to like any good looking man. The grass ninja are also listening to their conversation even though some of them tries hard not to look interested by focusing on their meals.

"So you returned to take the Jounin exam?" Shikamaru asks her as he glances at the grass squad.

"Yeah, Grass will join this year. Are you guys taking it?" Akai asks them.

"Yeah, Temari threatened to give me a black eye if I didn´t sign up this time..." The lazy boy sighs.

It makes Akai laugh. She doesn´t know much about Temari of Suna, but she has heard that her and Shikamaru´s relationship is a bit odd.

"You guys too?" She asks Ino and Chouji.

"Of course!" Ino sounds confident. "We just turned Chuunin but decided we won´t lose anything by trying it out."

"This will get interesting." T.J suddenly comments.

Akai shivers as she feels how several glaring contests take place. It seems as if several of her friends from Grass feel threatened by the Ino-shika-cho team. Akai won´t blame them: they´re very skilled and shouldn´t be underestimated. The here Konoha teens are polite and bows before greeting the others.

"Akai, Kanaye-kun why don´t you come with us?" Ino suggests. "I´m sure everyone wants to meet you."

Yes. The excuse to leave the Grass squad Akai wanted finally came.

"Eh, guys, I´ll take my leave and visit some old friends." Akai tells them.

"Sure." T.J nods with approval. "Be back at 10PM at latest."

Akai tenses. "Do I really need a curfew?"

"T.J, I´ll take care of her." Kanaye tells the older man as he decides to join.

Akai frowns at this, and she punches Kanaye in irritation. He doesn´t need to take care of her in any way! She´s not a child.

"I was kidding! Have fun kids. Just remember that the entrance ceremony of the Jounin exams is tomorrow evening."

"Yessir." Akai and Kanaye chants in a choir.

* * *

**Ino and Akai** walks down the street, Ino clinging to Akai, while the three men follow. Ino is talking a lot about the war and what has happened since the two of them walked separate ways. Akai can´t help but smile like a fool at everything the other girl tells her. She has missed her, a lot. Ino hasn´t changed, but she seems a bit more mature than before. The war has affected her as well.

"I can´t wait to fight side by side with you again!" Ino is happy.

"I feel the same." Akai smiles brightly.

Kanaye regards the two women in silence. He´s quick to notice how happy Akai is when she´s in Konoha among the friends she meet during her mission here. A small smile grows on his lips. He´s not someone who talks a lot, but he exchanges some words with Shikamaru.

Ino is leading them to Ichiraku Ramen, a small ramen shop that´s fairly popular in Konoha. It seems as if she and Hinata had talked some days ago where Ino gave the Hyuuga some advice for her date with a certain Uzumaki Naruto. The news made Akai really happy, it seems as if the two of them has started meeting up more often recently. Ino is trying to help the shy Hinata to make a move. Akai laughs. It´s almost like the time Ino helped her with her feelings for a certain Hyuuga Neji. A small blush grows on her cheeks.

Akai grins. She can hear Naruto´s loud laughter even though they´re not that close to the ramen shop yet. Chouji´s stomach growls and he urges the two girls to enter because he wants to get something to eat. Shikamaru shrugs while Kanaye looks quite amuzed. Ino smiles as she pushes Akai forward gently.

"Do it!" Ino whispers.

"No I..." Akai doesn´t want to interrupt Hinata´s and Naruto´s date after all,

"Do it!" Ino shouts at her.

Akai shivers and nods with a tired sigh before she approaches Naruto and Hinata. She knows she´ll disturb their date but Ino won´t let her run away now. Akai tries her best to approach them soundlessly, and it seems as she´s sucsessful because Naruto keeps on talking with the Hyuuga normally even when Akai is right behind him. Hinata though, noticed her presence immediately. Akai thought she´d be bothered but the small sigh that left the purple haired girl tells her that she´s smiling at her broadly. Akai smiles as well as she covers Naruto´s eyes with her hands. Naruto´s loud chatter dies.

"Guess who?" Akai whispers with a grin on her pale lips.

Naruto stays deadly silent for a moment. Hinata chuckles sweetly as she sees how Chouji barges in and oders some food, Shikamaru comments "this is such a drag", Ino sits down next to her and Kanaye joins silently. Naruto´s eyebrow twitches.

"Akai...? Is it you?"

"Correct!" Akai withdraws her hand as his reward.

Akai can´t see it, but the blonde turns around in his chair with a huge smile on his face. Naruto hugs Akai tightly and Akai feels really uncomfortable. Especially because it´s in front of Hinata. Akai pushes him away gently but Naruto doesn´t seem to understand why she´s so tense, he just laughs as he pats her shoulder in a friendly manner.

"You´re back!" Naruto grins. "Oh, you´re here for the exam right?"

"Yes, I am!"

Akai turns to Hinata and she feels this strange aura between them, a feeling she can´t give a name. The Grass ninja tenses even more.

"Hinata." She greets her.

"A-a-akai." Akai can feel how the other girl smiles, and she relaxes.

Akai laughs as she hugs the girl. Hinata didn´t expect that, she feels how the girl tenses, but she returns the hug hesitantly. Akai whisper some encouraging words in her ear. Hinata relaxes in her arms at this, and Akai guesses she´s also blushing. You can probably guess what kind of encouraging words Akai told the girl. Since Akai and the others ate just recently, it´s only Chouji who orders a bowl of ramen, as they stay for a while to talk with Hinata and Naruto. Akai feels very welcomed, especially since Naruto gives her a lot of attention when he talks about what has happened since they last saw each other. Akai relaxes a bit as Naruto start discussing something with Kanaye, and she takes the chance to take a sip of the glass of water she ordered. She loves reunions, she does, but she´s still not that used to meet up with large crowds of people who like her. Akai can feel that someone is regarding her, so she turns to her right.

"Did you see my cousin y-y-yet?" Is the first thing Hinata asks.

Akai´s heart skips a beat, and the Grass kunoichi gets surprised by herown reaction. Akai faces the ground in silence as her grip on the glass gets firmer.

"...No, not yet." Akai answers hesitantly.

Akai feels how hinata regards her in silence once more but her thoughts are elsewhere. It´s not like she´s avoiding meeting Neji, it´s not like that, but a reunion with him is what scares her the most. Akai is only imagining thinks like he didn´t miss her, he doesn´t love her anymore, the...kiss was an accident and that he´d think it would be better if they weren´t friends.

"Neji-nii-san he r-r-really...missed you." Hinata tells her, forcing Akai to return to reality.

Akai´s heart starts beating faster at this. She´s happy her headband covers half of her face because she can almost bet she just made a very surprised grimace.

"You think so?" Akai mumbles shyly, happily. "I was kinda worried that maybe...he..."

Hinata chuckles and it makes Akai turn quiet. She can feel Hinata´s kind and gentle aura wash over her as the two of them sit there, talking, as the noise around them goes by unnoticed.

"If I k-k-know my cousin right, I know his heart wouldn´t waver after solely a year apart." She tells Akai gently, but in a determined manner. It´s just what Kumori told her too.

Akai faces the girl and a smile grows bigger on her lips. Her heart feels a lot less heavy after hearing that.

"Hey!" Shikamaru yells

Hinata and Akai blushes and they stop talking as Shikamaru yelled. Both of them turn away from each other awkwardly.

"Let´s move on? You want to meet the rest, right?"

"Yeah, let´s."

* * *

**All of them** decide to walk to their next goal: the city library where Naruto´s two team mates should be right now. Akai doesn´t look forward to meeting them, or especially one of them, but she stays silent about it out of politeness. It would be rude to greet everyone except them after all. The familiar scent of old books and documents washes over them as they enter the library and it doesn´t take long until they find Sakura and Sai sitting by a table, reading through old writings.

"Sakura chaaaaan!" Naruto cheers to get their attention.

The vibrations in the floor tell Akai both of them pushed out their chairs to stand up. She smiles towards them.

"...Haruno." Akai greets Sakura politely.

"Hi." Is the pink haired woman´s only answer.

"You´re back." Sai states the fact.

Akai gives him a nod. Kanaye greets them silently with a bow, a gesture both of them returns.

"Geez, you´re so stiff!" Ino tells them jokingly before she explains. "We just got to know Akai and Kanaye-san came, so we were planning to meet up with everyone."

"Sounds like fun." Sakura answers. "Why won´t we gather everyone and have a BBQ? We can celebrate the last day of freedom before the exam as well."

"More food!" This is Chouji´s lucky day.

Ino grins and nods. "So put away those writings and let´s go!"

* * *

**All of them** go to get the rest of Hinata´s team, and she takes the lead when she shows them where their training grounds are. It´s in the midst of the forest, a place full of bugs that makes Sakura and Ino freak out a little, and they find Kiba and Shino sparring.

"Kiba, Shino!" Akai waves her arms happily as she recognizes their chakra.

"Isozaki." Shino greets her politely, but there´s a hint of warmth in there.

Akai gets no chance to bow back because Kiba suddenly tackles her in a friendly, but sudden, manner. It takes her off guard a bit.

"Long time no see!" He laughs loudly, fangs showing. "Kanaye!"

Ino chuckles as Kiba raises his arm to do a give-me-five and Kanaye simply stares at him for a moment before he does it. Kanaye isn´t usually a person that´d greet someone like that but he´s way too polite not to.

"Are y-you hungry?" Hinata asks them. "We´ll do a BBQ..."

"Seriously? I´m in." Kiba grins.

Shino simply nods his head as an ok.

"Okay, so team Gai are the only one left right? Let´s go." Naruto takes the lead.

The group of friends makes their way towards the other part of town where Lee is known to train. Tenten and Neji are usually close by. Akai can´t help but let her heart start to race by the thought that she might meet Neji in a couple of minutes. She feels bad that she didn´t go to find him the first thing she did when arriving in Konoha. Ino suddenly takes Akai´s arm, so they walk together. She seems to know how the albino feels right now. She´s thankful for the support. It doesn´t take more than 20 minutes for them to reach the training spot, and Lee and Tenten are in the midst of training individually. Tenten practises with her weapons while Lee jogs around.

"Tenten, hi!" Sakura shouts while waving her hand.

Tenten turns around with a smile upon hearing Sakura´s voice and that smile widens as she spots Akai. Akai doesn´t make a sound as the weapon loving girl, who helped her get one of her favourite staffs, hugs her close.

"Awww Akai-san!" Lee hugs her as well.

"Lee..." Tenten laughs at his eagerness as the three of them hugs.

They pull apart and Tenten turns serious as she sees how Akai focuses on something else. Akai tries to look for Neji but she can´t sense him. A frown on her face makes her look twice her age.

"Ah, Neji isn´t here." Tenten says as if she read Akai´s mind. "He had a mission and will return later today."

"Ah." Is all Akai can say.

Hinata and Ino shares sad glances at the news. They had been looking forward to see the two reunite after a year apart. Kanaye puts a hand on Akai´s shoulder and she smiles up at him. She´s ok, just a bit disappointed. Her heart calms down, as a deep breath emerges from her lips.

"Let´s go and get things for the BBQ." Akai breathes.

"I know where to get the best meat!" Chouji tells them.

"Let´s leave it to him." Shikamaru nods. "Some need to prepare a fireplace. Naruto, Kanaye, should we?"

"Sure." Kanaye nods.

"Let´s do it dattebayo!" Naruto cheers.

"I can prepare sticks." Tenten suggests.

Ino looks at her strangely.

"Sticks! If they want to eat hot dogs... or something." Tenten explains wide-eyed.

Ino laughs at this. "This will be so much fun!"

* * *

**The BBQ** is a success. All of them are gathered at the outskirts of Konoha around a quite big fireplace and the fire is coloring the dark sky orange. The warmth of the fire makes Akai feel really cozy as she stands there eating her hot dog silently. Naruto and Hinata can be seen chatting on the other side of the fire, a hint of a blush cover the Hyuuga´s cheeks. Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Kanaye are discussing something not too far away, Akai hears Ino´s laughter. Kanaye´s attention seems to be glued to the blonde. Kiba seems to be a bit bitter over something as he talks with Shino, Akamaru whines. Tenten and Sakura are chatting loudly. Sai is nowhere to be seen. Everyone is enjoying this reunion and small party before the exams. There´s a certain nervous atmosphere around them as well. They might end up being rivals, enemies, tomorrow.

Akai spaces out a bit as she faces the sky above. She doesn´t know, but it´s covered with bright stars and a half moon, that is the only source of light except the fire at this hour. It makes her skin glow eerily, her veins become a little bit more visible. She can´t wait to take the exams with her friends. A smile graces her face.

"Why are you smiling all to yourself like that?" Naruto laughs at Akai.

"Oh, I´m just happy we´re all gathered." She explains a bit flustered. "Like old times."

Naruto grins at her as he nods. His smile turns gentle as he stands beside her in silence for a while. The fire is reflected in his dark blue eyes.

"It´s nice that you´re back." Naruto tells her.

"I´m glad to be here." Is her answer.

The two of them grin at each other. Akai wonders what kind of adventures she´ll go through during her second stay here. She´s aware that it´ll be amazing when she´s surrounded by these people. Akai just hopes that she can get these kinds of bonds with her fellow Grass shinobi as well.

"Akai, it´s time to leave... " Kanaye approaches her, referring to the curfew T.J gave them.

"Ah, right. We should go."

"You have to go already?" Naruto questions.

"Sorry buddy." Akai smiles weakly, she´d love to stay there with them.

Akai and Kanaye tells everyone good bye before they leave. Complete darkness surrounds them as they walk through a part of the forest until they reach the centre of the village. Akai makes sure to lead Kanaye all the way to the hotel before she tells him she wants to stay out a bit more.

"Ah, Kanaye, I think I´ll go for a walk. I need to think."

"...Sure, just stay safe. See you in the morning." He nods before entering the hotel without asking any unnecessary questions.

* * *

**The slightly** chilly wind feels nice on her skin after a warm day as she stands there on the small bridge over the river. It´s not spring, so the cherry blossoms are not in bloom, but she can imagine that it´s beautiful anyway. This place always has this calming effect on Akai. A deep sigh leaves her lips.

A sudden feeling makes her tense though. Someone is coming this way. Her heart is beating like mad in her chest as she focuses on locating that familiar chakra that seems to be calling out to her. It´s coming closer in a steady pace. It can´t be...

"Neji." She murmurs to herself.

She suddenly doesn´t know what to do. She wants to hide, but she´s aware that Neji probably sensed her presence as well. _I´m not ready for this..._ Akai thinks as she tries to calm down as she waits for him. A sound, much like a small almost unnoticeable gasp, can be heard and then dead silence. Akai stands there, just feeling his chakra surround her, in silence.

"Hey, Neji." She breaks the silence. "How was your mission? Welcome back."

"...I´m home." The words leave his lips in a whisper.

He approaches Akai slowly until they´re both standing at the bridge close to the field, the three, where they usually hung out during her stay in Konoha last year. Akai doesn´t know what to say, what to do, when they stand there in silence but she doesn´t fret over it too long because Neji pulls her into his embrace suddenly. He smells of the forest, of sweat and dirt: a hardworking man. Akai fights her happy tears a bit as she returns the hug and leans into the embrace. She feels so small in his arms, or is it Neji that has grown taller? She wants time to stop so they can be like this forever.

"I was wondering why your letter was late..." Neji murmurs into her hair. "I should have known you were coming here.."  
"I couldn´t bring myself to write you about the exam, I didn´t know how to put it into words... I´m sorry.."

She hears him chuckle a little as he pulls away from their hug. Their hands stay connected. They move in silence to their usual spot under the sakura tree and sit down. She asks him if he´s sure he has time for this, if he isn´t too tired, but he just shakes his head making that dark hair fall down over his broad shoulders. They sit down and Neji almost pushes Akai down to use his lap as her pillow. A sweet laughter emerges from her as she obeys. It´s like they haven´t been apart at all, like everything is as it used to. It makes her so happy and relaxed, and she wonders why she was worried about it in the first place.

"You... didn´t get hurt, did you?"

"The mission went smoothly." He tells her gently.

Even though he answered, Akai feels that he´s thinking about something else. She´s about to ask about it when she feels how he suddenly touches her face. Akai tenses at first as Neji touches her head band but she doesn´t say anything as he unties it. She noticed that her friends stared a bit, since she covered her eyes, but they didn´t say anything. It seems as if Neji wants to see all of her face. Akai feels a bit naked as the Hyuuga takes her headproector off carefully. Long eyelashes flutter as one can see how the eyes move beneath the eyelids. Akai opens her eyes slowly, hesitantly, but the world is black. It makes no difference if she has her eyes closed, covered or open anymore. She can feel how several questions bottle up inside of the man that´s holding her but he doesn´t break the silence. Warm hands touch her cheeks gently as he stares into her dead eyes. His thumb brushes over her lashes gently.

"I can´t see anymore." She explains to him in a slightly dry voice.

Silence spread between them for a moment but Neji just keep on caressing Akai´s face like as if he didn´t hear her. He´s in deep thought.

"That´s not true..." Neji takes Akai´s hand and lets her fingers touch his face."Because you can see me, can´t you?"

A soft smile grows on the Grass kunoichi´s lips as she feels his smooth, warm skin under her fingers. The way he accepts her handicap makes her fuzzy inside.

"...I can see you..." Akai laughs softly.

She runs her fingers over his soft skin, feels his jawbones, his slightly pointy chin, the tip of his nose, those round ears of his, his eye brows, his eyelashes and his mouth. Her heart skips a beat.

"...It seems as if you´ve gotten more handsome when I was away..." She tells him teasingly.

Akai feels how he bends down over her because she´s suddenly surrounded by dark long hair. It tickles. His hair becomes a wall that shields her from everything that isn´t the two of them.

"I missed you." He tells her in a breathless whisper.

It´s when she feels how his breath touches her face Akai realizes just how close the man is. The closeness is maddening. Akai can feel Neji´s warm, radiating chakra pulsing through him into her as he slowly bends down even more. His kiss is chaste and sweet. A soft sigh leaves Akai as she returns the loving gesture. Fingers run through his long and thick hair as Akai pulls him closer to her. He kisses her lips, her nose and both of her eyes and she can feel the uncharacteristic smile on the Hyuuga´s face. She touches his lips with her fingers carefully: she wants to memorise his smile. Print it into her memory so she´ll never forget the feeling of being loved like this.

"Oh." Akai´s eyes widen.

"What?" Neji asks her, a bit wary by how she suddenly tensed up.

"My curfew!"


	32. Chapter 32

**AN: Hello loyal readers, and new ones! Thanks for all the support! I´m on winter break here in Japan now, so I took some time to write. Don´t worry, I haven´t given up on this story. **

**One place mentioned in this chapter is Fushimi Inari Shrine, please, google it. It is an amazing place and that´s why I decided to use it in this fanfiction.**

**Now, enjoy!**

* * *

**Akai** faces the wall as she gets dressed. Her pale, porcelain white skin covered with a couple of bruises and a big scar over the stomach is soon covered by her forest green ninja outfit. The scars from the war have not fully healed yet. She ties her headband firmly over her eyes. She won´t fight for Grass in this exam, but she will wear the Grass symbol anyway. She recently earned her village´s respect, and can finally wear it with confidence and feel the belonging the symbol represents.

The noise from downstairs tells her that the others have started to wake up as well. The sound is almost unnoticeable for the untrained ear, but Akai picks it up easily. She sighs a bit to herself, her nerves made her wave up a lot earlier than planned. Luckily, today is only a ceremony and not an actual test.

Akai does her best not to think about the second reason why she didn´t sleep that well. However, she fails almost immediately. Akai's cheeks turn a bit red. She is so relieved that Neji still feels the same way about her as he did when they parted in Grass, even though they hadn´t seen each other for a year. _Yesterday was amazing._ Akai sighs for a second time. A dreamy sigh.

It´s time to get real. Akai is taking another possible step towards fulfilling her ninja dream, and she can´t risk getting out of balance before the exam even starts. She pushes the Hyuuga out of her mind with a shake of her head.

When she finished eating the morning snack Kumori brought her, Akai grabs her staff and descends to the first floor to be greeted by her fellow Grass comrades. Kanaye gives her a gentle smile, and Akai can´t help but feel relaxed in his presence. He is a lot calmer than her, after all, and even though she couldn´t see his smile, she could feel it and she returns the gesture.

Akai and Kanaye watches how the other Grass ninja prepares themselves, and they both calm down when they realize that they two of them probably has most experience among the people here. Even their leader seems a bit out of it this morning. Grass is still not a strong shinobi nation but traveling to other countries to take the exams is a good step in the right direction.

T.J is in charge, and he makes sure everyone is present and prepared. The jounin has a bit of a frown on his face as he talks with Momo, who seems to be the most nervous member of team Grass about the exam. Akai knows that Momo is a great medic, but she has no idea of how strong the kunoichi is when it comes to battle. Akai feels the need to help her out, Momo is a friend of her mother after all. Yukiko however, seems to be irritated by the lack of confidence in the other girl. Tsubasa, who sometimes seems to be Yukiko´s male counterpart when it comes to being distant and cold, eyes her without a word. Kanaye shrugs, he seems to be a bit uncomfortable with the fact that there are at least two shinobi that will be hard to get along with. Hikaru and Ginga are eagerly and loudly discussing the exam, wondering what kind of tasks they will go through and how difficult it will be. Tsubasa sighs, probably thinking that they are childish and that they shouldn´t have come in the first place. The oldest member, Hanatarou, and the youngest member, Ken, seem to have warmed up to each other. The fourteen-year-old seems to have sought the older man´s company yesterday night for reasons unknown. Po, already looking exhausted due to the problem with his papers, is sitting down silently. T.J moves to the door.

"It´s time to go." He informs them.

Akai looks for Kumori one last time before she leaves. It seems as if the young journalist already left.

* * *

**In the** grand meeting hall, there is a small group of people wearing a forest green headband. Compared to the other ninja countries, they are the smallest group there. The largest groups are from Konoha and Suna, but there are also warriors from land of water, and land of lightning and land of earth. It´s very noisy. A frown covers Akai´s face. This is a reunion of friends across nations, and it´s bound to get loud.

"Your friends are here." Kanaye mentions in a quiet voice, referring to the Konoha and some Suna ninja that came to their aid during the war in Grass.

"Mm?" Akai turns to him with a smile. "_Our_ friends, you mean?" She chuckles.

Kanaye shrugs. It seems as if he´s a bit unsure if he should call the Konoha ninja his friends just yet. Akai nudges him playfully with her elbow. Kanaye seems a bit tense and it worries her a bit. He´s usually cool, or, hides his emotions well from her but today is different. _Is he staring at Ino again?_ Akai ponders. Her smile turns gentler. She has learned that Kanaye sometimes have a hard time making friends and letting people to get close even though he wants to reach out to them.

Everyone turns quiet as Tsunade, the Hogakge, walks forward. She stares out over the room, seemingly letting her eyes wander over everyone there, before she speaks.

"I´d wish to welcome everyone, or brothers and sisters, to Konoha for the long awaited Jounin Exam. I recognize some from the exam in Suna, I wish you all better luck this time." Tsunade smiles in a bitter way and you can´t tell if she honestly wishes them good luck or if she is imagining them failing again.

"As the Chuunin exam, this exam will also have three different challenges. It shouldn´t be unfamiliar to you. But unlike other exams, you will be _alone_ from the moment you leave this ceremony. Once you step out those doors, there will be no Ninja nations, there will be no teams or friends: you are all rivals."

The room is deadly silent. It seems that a lot of people weren´t ready to hear that, people who are afraid of being on their own. Akai can hear how T.J tries to calm a panicky Momo down. _Will she be alright?_ The atmosphere is dreadful. The grass kunoichi can´t help but tremble a little. She sighs, trying to collect herself.

"Will you be able to survive on your own?" Tsunade asks everyone, before she smiles almost teasingly again, and sits down.

_They are trying to scare all of the ninja here_. Akai won´t fall for it. Being alone is her forte after all and a jounin must be able to handle things alone, without fail.

One of the men by her side, known as Hatake Kakashi takes over. "You can still cancel your registration if you think this test is nothing for you , if you want to wait until next exam, please talk with one of us before leaving." He says as he points to Gai. "The first test is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Good luck."

* * *

**It´s clear** that the team from Grass isn´t as tight as the others, because the moment the meeting is over everyone goes their separate ways either to rest or to prepare for tomorrow. Tsubasa is the last to leave, and he doesn´t even offer a "see you later." Kanaye tells Akai he wants to rest before he leaves as well and that leaves her alone in the middle of Konoha. Just when Akai decides she should go home as well, someone touches her shoulder. Kumori laughs at Akai´s surprised face.

"Yo." The girl greets her.

"Kumori." Akai grins.

"Was it just I, or did Hokage-sama try to scare you guys away before the exam even started?" She chuckles.

"I think, that was her intention." Akai agrees.

"You free? Why won´t we grab a bite together?"

"I can´t see why not."

Kumori´s company makes Akai forget her nerves, as the two girls keep on joking around. Their relationship haven´t changed at all. They sit down at a table at a small restaurant they have been to before, and they dig in. The smell of pork is in the air and the employees are from time to time yelling "welcome!" when new customers arrive. Kumori pulls forth a small notebook and starts writing a bit. Akai guesses it´s the notes from the entrance ceremony before. Kumori is really working hard.

"Don´t forget to eat." Akai tells her. "I´ll eat everything."

Kumori laughs as she sneakily snatches a piece of meat from Akai´s chopsticks. It´s rude, but Akai just grins.

"Aren´t you going to prepare for the exams?"

"No, I don´t think I can do anything about it the day before, really." Akai shrugs.

"As collected as ever."

"That must be a joke…" Akai roll her eyes, even though they are hidden beneath her headband."A bad one.."

She is worried, but she rather not think about it. A sigh leaves her dry lips. A lot is at stake. Akai takes a big sip of her drink to swallow her anxiety.

"Ah sorry." Kumori apologizes. "Here, take more meat."

Akai nods, and eats more. They order deserts too, and Akai laughs when she thinks that "desserts" backwards is "stressed". Maybe, she is a bit stressed out about all of this after all, she thinks as she eats another spoon of ice cream.

"It´s your fault if I gain weight!"

"Eh, trust me… you will run all of this off tomorrow. Eat!"

* * *

**After waving **good bye to Kumori, who said she had to attend some kind of meeting, Akai wanted some time to herself so she strolls down the streets of Konoha while bathing in the sunlight of the setting sun. It feels night on her skin. Small clouds of warm air leave her mouth as she exhales in the slightly chilly air.

"Ah-aaaa!" She sighs to herself. "Tomorrow is a big day."

_And here I am, talking to myself._ Akai smiles to herself.

"And you are here, alone, talking to yourself." A voice from behind suddenly says. "Shouldn't you be preparing?"

Akai tenses before she relaxes again, a smile growing on her pale lips. She didn´t expect to run into him today, but happiness spread through her body as a thought enters her mind: he might have come looking for her. _Thoughtful, Neji, did you wait until Kumori left?_

"Hmmm?" Akai grins.

The Hyuuga stands there, dark long hair framing his pale face, and white knowing eyes shining in the darkness. Although Akai can´t see how handsome he is in that moment, her whole being turns warmer at the thought of being there with him.

Another sigh leaves her lips as she remembers what he said. She might need to prepare. She´s getting a bit wary. Neji looks at her silently for a while.

"Come." He breaks the silence.

Akai follows him wordlessly. That´s how much she has come to trust him.

She doesn't know where he takes her, she has never walked this path before, so she uses her staff to see the road in front of her. Metallic thuds can be heard as she from time to time hits the ground with her weapon. The landscape gets clearer to Akai. They are walking away from the village, towards the woods, and the road is getting bumpier. Akai flinches as she suddenly feel him touch her hand, a chuckle leaves her lips as she takes his hand in hers. She didn´t expect him to want to hold her hand. Neji is smiling gently but he doesn´t look at her, almost as if he is a tiny bit shy.

Neji takes her further away from the village and into the woods. The sound of singing birds can be heard above, as well as the sound of a current somewhere.

She wonders why he took her here. The landscape is beautiful, even she can tell, but it seems to be special to him for some reason. She loves to get to know more and more about him, even simple things like this. It´s like he is showing her a new side of himself. She wonders, just how much of himself had he been hiding from everyone until now?

"What is this place?"

"I used to come here when I was younger." He doesn´t say it, but Akai understands. "When I needed to be alone."

He came here when the life at the Hyuuga compound got too harsh, when he needed to be himself. This place is full of memories. It´s much like the spot under the sakura tree, but still very different. It´s more isolated and hidden from the world, a place someone who don´t know the way will never find. It´s his spot.

"I like it here." Akai tells him. "It´s very peaceful, still, full of memories and emotions."

He makes a murmuring sound as an answer and she takes it as a positive sign. He sits down and pulls her down with him. Neji keeps on opening up to Akai, and she can´t help but feel happy about it. She entangles her fingers with his, and holds his hand in her lap. His fingers are cold so she tries to use her body heat to warm them: slowly caressing his fingers. His hands are big and firm: formed from years of training and fighting. She likes the feeling of touching his hands.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" He asks her.

Akai nods her head hesitantly. "As ready as I can get. I´m excited and scared at the same time." Akai tells him while smiling weakly.

Neji doesn´t say anything, but his mere presence is comforting for the albino. He has been through it and she knows he´d stop her if he thought she couldn´t do it. Akai sighs to herself. The butterflies in her stomach won´t stop bothering her. She feels egoistic and needy, so she leans against him silently. Her head on his shoulder. After a short moment, she can feel how he leans onto her as well, his dark hair tickling her cheek. She blushes, and she prays to the gods above that he won´t look at her right now. She must be red as a tomato.

"Stay focused, and stay out of unnecessary trouble." He tells her, his breath in her hair.

Even though he doesn´t show it, Akai knows he is worried about her. It makes her fuzzy and warm inside. She wish that they could spend more time together, but she is aware that she won´t have a lot of time from tomorrow onward. The pout on her face makes her look younger. Akai turns serious as her thoughts wander to tomorrow. She´s not afraid of doing it by herself. She has been on her own a lot through her childhood. What she is afraid of is failing. Either because she´s not good enough, because of her injury or because of her lacking eye sight.

What would she do if she failed? There is no plan B.

Akai bites her lower lip. No, even if she fails she will come back up again and try until she makes it. Determination and pure stubbornness will make her reach her dream. Neji regards the girl´s face in silence as he sees how she makes several expressions as she thinks. His white orbs are serious, especially when he understands that she is thinking about failure. He has become good at reading her during the time he has known her, but it also seems as if she is showing him more of her inner thoughts lately.

"When the exams are over…" He starts slowly. "…Let´s go somewhere together."

It is his way to make her do her best to stay alive; to say he is waiting for her. The thought of going somewhere with him, alone, makes her a bit excited to. They haven´t really been on dates before. Only met up to train, to meditate , talk or to fight side by side in a war. Or to sit down and talk like here, or under the sakura tree. Akai ponders about it for a while. _How would a date with Neji be like? Walking side by side down the street wearing traditional clothes, stop by some stores to get green tea and snacks? _

…_Going to a hot spring together?_

"Yeah." She smiles dreamily. "Let´s do that."

They have confessed their love, however, they haven´t dated. Akai´s lets her thoughts wander. She knows that their friends know of them, but they haven´t become a couple officially. Akai doesn´t know what she should call their relationship. They aren´t really a couple, she wouldn´t dare call Neji her boyfriend, and she can´t help but wonder if Neji would be ok showing the world that he likes her.

They are from different worlds, after all.

Akai sighs.

"What´s wrong?"

"Nuh-huh, just thinking about tomorrow."

She´s pretty sure Neji saw through her lie, but he doesn´t say anything more about it. He just squeezes her hand. The fact that he has said he loves her is enough for Akai, she won´t expect him to do anything more than that.

She silently hopes that there won´t come a day when he stops loving her.

* * *

**The day** of the first exam came quickly. Akai looked for her, but Kumori was nowhere to be seen that morning. She must have headed off to work early today too.

They are all gathered at the Konoha gates, and without any kind of explanation, they are told to follow Konoha Jounin into the forest. Ninja from Konoha, Grass, Suna, and other villages are scattered as they all run towards something unknown.

After a while, several red buildings can be spotted in a clearing just below a mountain. Akai uses her staff to see it clearly and as she guesses, it´s the starting point of task 1. There´s a narrow path up the mountain, and that road is full of red _torii, _gates. Akai have heard of this place. It´s Fushimi Inari Shrine. She heard it´s a beautiful place, a place protected by fox gods who´d either protect you or do their best to make you lose your way in the mountain.

Kakashi walks up in front of a crowd of restless ninja. "Your goal is to reach the top, retrieve something dear to you, and get back. You will get disqualified if you won´t return within 5 hours, if you return without what you was supposed to retrieve and if you damage the shrine. Simple, right?"

_Something dear to me? _Akai doesn´t get any time to think about it before a jounin tells them to get ready._ That´s way too little information!_ They have been divided into smaller sections that will leap towards the mountain, to avoid a massacre here at the clearing. Akai uses her 4 senses to check out her competition in her section. She swallows her saliva. It´d be good if she was quick and managed to sneak into the forest before them, because they are seemingly both bigger and heavier than her. Then hopefully, she is quicker. She can feel their eyes on her, underestimating her, and she starts to boil with frustration. It´s like things starts all over again. She bites her lower lip as she swears that she'll prove them wrong: that she´s strong.

Kakashi gives her a small hint of a smile before he starts the countdown. With his right arm raised, he shows them one finger.

"1…

2…

3…

….Mission 1, Start!" He shouts with three fingers in the air.

A loud, ear-piercing sound echoes as Akai hits the ground with her staff one last time before she dashes towards the woods. It seems that a ninja thought about a similar technique, using a smoke bomb to confuse the others, but smoke doesn´t affect her since Akai can´t see in the first place. The metallic sound plus the smoke surprised the others in her section, and it gave her some time to sprint forward. If she is left behind, she´ll get killed.

She hears a scream behind her and she bites her lip as she accelerates.

_This is it._

* * *

**AN: So, a pretty short chapter. It´s my Christmas gift to you. Have a nice Christmas and New Year. **


End file.
